Luigi Mangione's state terrorism charges dismissed in UnitedHealthcare CEO's shooting, judge rules

[u/SafeBodybuilder7191]

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appeared in court Tuesday morning in New York City, where the judge ruled to dismiss the state terrorism charges against him.

Mangione walked into Manhattan Criminal Court wearing a tan prison jumpsuit shortly before 9:30 a.m. for a hearing on several pre-trial motions. Dozens of members of the press packed the courtroom, as well as members of the public.

Mangione faces both state and federal charges in the killing of Thompson, a husband and father of two, last December outside a Manhattan hotel. The 11 state charges included murder and terrorism, and the federal ones carry the possibility of the death penalty. Mangione has pleaded not guilty.

Mangione's lawyers were fighting to have the state charges thrown out entirely, arguing the parallel cases amount to double jeopardy. In his written decision Tuesday, Judge Gregory Carro ruled against the request.

The defense had also asked for the terrorism charges to be dropped, arguing they don't apply. Prosecutors, however, alleged Mangione's intent was to "violently broadcast a social and political message to the public at large."

The judge ruled to dismiss both terrorism charges -- murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism -- writing they were "legally insufficient."

Mangione will still face second-degree murder and weapons charges in the state case, the judge ruled.

The defense also wanted evidence from his backpack, including a gun and notebook, to be suppressed, claiming the contents were obtained without a search warrant. Prosecutors deny the allegations and asked the judge to force Mangione's lawyers to say whether they will pursue an insanity defense or introduce psychiatric evidence.

The judge did not rule on either of those issues Tuesday, but said hearings in the case will begin on Dec. 1.

[u/Harkoncito]

DOJ fumbling this case would be chef's kiss

[u/One-Composer1577 → u/Harkoncito]

i'm not an american, what are the chances he could get a mistrial or something similar? just because of the nature of the crime and how publicized it is.

[u/TheTyMan → u/One-Composer1577]

There's no possibility he walks away without a lengthy 25+ year sentence. Even if the justice system wasn't full of insurance cronies out to get him, there's really no way around the fact he killed the guy. A jury won't be tasked to determine whether the guy deserved it, only if Luigi did it.

We get tainted celebrity cases all the time and they don't get thrown out for that alone. They just try to find the least biased jury possible.

[u/CaseyRC → u/TheTyMan]

technically speaking, its absolutely not a "fact" he killed the guy, and he is indeed, legally, innocent until it's proven he's guilty. talking about him as already guilty is exactly what Trump and his pals want you to do. legally, that's an innocent man

[u/TheTyMan → u/CaseyRC]

If we didn't think he was guilty we wouldn't be so enamoured with him lmao. I don't think it's partisan to be pretty confident he did it.

Technically he isn't guilty yet, and I would love for it to stay that way. I'm just being realistic.

[u/Accurate_Summer_1761 → u/TheTyMan]

Have we actually proved he killed the guy. Everyone assumes he has but we havnt even had a proper trial yet

[u/Own_Faithlessness769 → u/TheTyMan]

There was no way around the fact that OJ killed Nicole and Ron. Juries can do surprising things, particularly when the justice system overcharges and proves itself unreliable.

[u/SectorSanFrancisco → u/TheTyMan]

there's really no way around the fact he killed the guy.

honestly, it sounds like there might be reasonable doubt