Key evidence from Luigi Mangione backpack can be used in murder trial
Justice Gregory Carro ruled today on Mangione’s bid to suppress evidence allegedly found in his backpack during his arrest - including a pistol, silencer and journal entries
Key evidence found in the backpack of Luigi Mangione can be presented at his trial over to the shooting a healthcare CEO on the streets of Manhattan, a court has ruled.
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Mangione, 28, is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a pavement in December 2024.
The shooting in broad daylight became emblematic of many Americans' antipathy for the rising cost of health insurance.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty in state court to all charges. His trial is set to begin on September 8 and is expected to last six weeks.
Justice Gregory Carro ruled evidence allegedly found in his backpack during his arrest - including a pistol, silencer and journal entries - cannot be used in his state murder trial.
Mangione’s lawyers said police who arrested him in Pennsylvania unlawfully searched the backpack without a warrant and questioned him without first providing required notice of his legal rights.
However, prosecutors will be allowed to present items found during a search at a police station.
Read More: Judge drops terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione over killing of healthcare CEO
Prosecutors deny that Mangione was illegally searched and questioned, saying police who spotted Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, followed legal protocols.
The backpack contains key evidence but is not make-or-break for prosecutors, who say they also have DNA and fingerprint evidence, Mangione's cell phone and hundreds of hours of surveillance footage linking him to the crime.
Judge Carro also ruled that some of Mangione's questioning by the officers who initially encountered him at the Pennsylvania fast food restaurant must be excluded from trial.
Thompson, who was CEO of UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N) insurance unit, was shot dead in the early morning outside a hotel where he was staying for an investor conference.
Graphic footage of the killing and a five-day manhunt for a suspect made the case a media fixture and social media sensation.
Most Americans condemned the killing, but some critics of for-profit healthcare support Mangione online and attend his court appearances in droves.
Mangione is set to stand trial on stalking charges in November in a separate federal case.
He could have faced the death penalty until a judge’s surprise decision in January throwing out capital murder and weapons charges for legal reasons.
New York has banned the death penalty, but the federal government has not.