Luigi Mangione returns to court as attorneys seek to toss out key evidence

Attorneys representing the man accused of fatally shooting a health care executive on a street in Manhattan argued in state court that vital pieces of evidence in the case should be thrown out.

Luigi Mangione and his attorneys were in court on Monday as his legal team sought to have key evidence dismissed in the state murder trial stemming from the December 4, 2024, shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The defence team is seeking to have evidence seized from Mangione's backpack when he was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald's, including a 9mm handgun and a diary in which prosecutors say Mangione expressed his desire to kill a health care executive, which was thrown out, according to Bloomberg News.

Mangione's attorneys argued that the search of the backpack was illegal because the officers lacked a warrant and that any seized material should therefore be inadmissible.

They also alleged that Mangione was questioned for 20 minutes without having his Miranda Rights read to him.

Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in New York last December. He was captured after a five-day manhunt in Altoona, Pennsylvania, nearly 482 kilometres west of New York City.

Protest outside court

Monday's hearing marked the first of several days of proceedings in which prosecutors and defence attorneys will go back and forth over which evidence should be admitted at trial.

New York Judge Gregory Carro already handed Mangione a victory in September when he tossed state first-degree murder charges against Mangione that classified the shooting as an act of terrorism, according to Bloomberg.

Several supporters of Mangione appeared outside the courthouse before the hearing, including one dressed as the villain from the video game Super Mario Bros., bearing a sign that said, "When patients die, profits rise," and a woman with a "Free Luigi" sash.

Trial dates have not been set in either the state or federal cases. Mangione has been held in federal custody in Brooklyn since his arrest.

Mangione faces a separate federal case that carries the possibility of the death penalty.

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Source: TRT