At a minimum, Mangione’s lawyers urged a federal judge in New York to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty
Luigi Mangione’s lawyers have moved to have the murder case against him dismissed, arguing that it has become highly “politicized” and “prejudicial,” citing the perp walk where the accused killer was made to look like a “monster” out of “a Marvel movie.”
At a minimum, Mangione’s lawyers urged a federal judge in New York to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in the case, and called out Attorney General Pam Bondi for making “factually-misleading, prejudicial public statements.”
Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty, is currently awaiting trial for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was gunned down in Manhattan last December.
The 27-year-old’s lawyers argue the indictment against him should be dismissed because of “false, damaging, public statements” made by Bondi and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and arguing that the staged perk walk on December 19, “violated Mangione’s right to due process such that this death penalty case should be dismissed,” the motion said.
“Potential jurors — grand and petit — were imprinted with a scene out of a Marvel movie, with dozens of agents needed to protect the public from the shackled monster Mangione,” his lawyers wrote, referring to the heavily publicized perp walk.
The lawyer’s 118-page motion argues that Bondi used “incendiary language that invoked economic and class division,” and included examples of press releases issued by the Justice Department and social media posts.
In April, Bondi announced that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for “an act of political violence” and a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
It was this kind of language that was used “intended to prejudice the rights of Mangione, feeding the false ‘crime wave’ narrative that established and affluent members of society, including CEOs, were under siege from a seething and disgruntled underclass,” Mangione’s lawyers wrote.
The latest effort from Mangione’s defense team follows their success in getting two state terrorism charges against him dropped last week.
Justice Gregory Carro, of the New York Court of Claims, dropped the charges of murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism, and murder in the first degree in furtherance of terrorism, stating there was “insufficient” evidence provided.
Mangione is still facing second-degree murder charges and eight weapon-related charges.
Tuesday’s ruling was a blow to state prosecutors, who argued that terrorism charges were appropriate because Mangione allegedly “targeted” Thompson and carried out the shooting in front of the hotel where UnitedHealthcare was holding its annual investor conference.
Mangione’s next federal court appearance is on December 5, and U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett, who is overseeing the case, has said she may then set a trial date for 2026.
If Garnett allows the death penalty and a jury convicts Mangione of murder, the same jury would consider whether he should be executed.
An intense manhunt was launched after Thompson’s killing, which prompted Americans across the country to share horror stories of health insurance claims that had been denied over the years.
Mangione, who had reportedly been angry about the health insurance system, allegedly shot Thompson early in the morning on December 4 as he was walking into the Midtown Manhattan hotel ahead of the conference.
After the shooting, Mangione is said to have fled on a bike through Central Park, hopped in a taxi, and then got on a bus to Pennsylvania. Nearly five days after the shooting, law enforcement arrested Mangione after he was recognized in a McDonald’s.
Prosecutors have argued that the killing has inspired others to embrace violence over debate.
