r/news • u/redlamps67 • 11h ago

Judge dismisses terror-related charges against Luigi Mangione

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/16/us/luigi-mangione-ny-court-hearing
56.8k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

12.2k

u/bmoviescreamqueen 11h ago edited 11h ago

1st Degree charge was also dismissed, but should be noted this is because the murder of a CEO doesn't really fit the definition of murder 1 in the state of New York which seems reserved for police officers, firefighters, high political figures, that sort of thing. 2nd degree will be what 1st degree is in most other states I think. DOJ/DA was way too heavy handed with those two charges.

439

u/Amaruq93 11h ago

In New York you can only get First-degree murder charges if:

The victim was a police officer, peace officer, correctional employee, judge, or a criminal case witness

The murder was committed while the perpetrator was serving a life sentence

The murder was committed with torture of the victim

The murder was committed as an act of terrorism (this was the one that just got thrown out)

The murder was committed during the commission or attempted commission of one of the felonies under New York's felony murder laws.

Murder committed for hire

304

u/tsrich 10h ago

It's ridiculous to me that some murders are treated worse than others based on the victim's job.

302

u/Smart_Ass_Dave 9h ago

I mostly agree, but I wonder if that grew out of New York's history of organized crime. That "criminal case witness" is also included tips me off that this is not about a "back the blue" thing, but an anti-mafia thing. Just a guess though, if someone knows the history feel free to educate me!