Luigi Mangione will go to trial on June 8, accused of shooting a health insurance executive on a sidewalk in midtown Manhattan, a state judge said Friday.
As he was led out of the courtroom wearing prison clothing and handcuffs, Mangione said the decision would unfairly expose him to two trials for the same crime, given his scheduled Oct. 13 trial in a separate federal case.
“It’s the same trial twice. One plus one equals two. Double jeopardy, by any common sense definition,” Mangione said. Double jeopardy refers to the US legal doctrine that people cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime.
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Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Agnifilo, disputed the trial date. She said the defense would not be ready in time and accused prosecutors of trying to “take two bites at the apple.”
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, weapons possession and forgery. He also pleaded not guilty to stalking charges in the federal case.
New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro, who set the trial date in the state case, expressed frustration that federal prosecutors had “reneged” on a promise to let state prosecutors act first.
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Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have been pushing for a quick trial in hopes of preempting federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have been pushing for a speedy trial in hopes of completing the case before federal prosecutors.
Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said during the hearing that state prosecutors have the right to act first because they were the first to arrest Mangione.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in connection with the shooting of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson. Public officials condemned the killing, but it sparked a wave of criticism of the practices of the U.S. health insurance industry.
Thompson, who led UnitedHealth Group’s health insurance unit, was shot and killed on December 4, 2024, outside the Hilton hotel where he was staying for a meeting with investors.
Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania after a five-day manhunt and has been in prison ever since. He has become an online folk hero for some Americans who decry high health care costs and denounce insurers’ denial practices.
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State prosecutors initially charged Mangione with terrorism, but Carro rejected that charge after concluding there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that Mangione’s alleged actions were intended to influence public policy.
Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York separately filed murder, weapons possession and stalking charges against Mangione and said they would seek the death penalty.
The judge handling the case dismissed the murder and weapons charges on a legal technicality in January. This eliminated the possibility of the death penalty, but Mangione could face life in prison if convicted of stalking.
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