Luigi Mangione shouts at judge in angry outburst in court after trial date set
Luigi Mangione shouted at a judge in an emotional outburst in court Friday as a trial date was set for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“It’s the same trial twice,” Mangione shouted as he was led out of court. “One plus one equals two. Double jeopardy by any common sense definition.”
Mangione, 27, made the remarks after the judge scheduled his state murder trial to begin June 8, three months before jury selection in his federal case.
Judge Gregory Carro, neutral in his ruling after a lengthy discussion with prosecutors and defense attorneys, said the state trial could be delayed until Sept. 8 if an appeal delays the federal trial.
Mangione’s lawyers objected to the June trial date, telling Carro that at that time they would be busy preparing for the federal trial, which involves allegations that Mangione stalked Thompson before killing him.
“Mr. Mangione is in an untenable situation,” defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said. “This is a tug-of-war between two different prosecutors.”
“The defense will not be ready on June 8,” she added.
“Be ready,” Carro replied.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, both punishable by up to life in prison. Last week, the judge in the federal case ruled that prosecutors could not seek the death penalty.
Jury selection in the federal case is scheduled for September 8, followed by opening statements and testimony on October 13.
Wearing a tan prison suit, Mangione sat quietly at the defense table until his outburst at the end of the hearing.
As the trial schedule began to take shape, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann sent a letter to Carro asking him to begin the trial in New York on July 1.
The prosecutor argued that the state’s interests “would be unfairly harmed by unnecessary delay” until the federal trial concludes. Under the law, he said, the state has “priority of jurisdiction for purposes of trial, sentencing and incarceration” because Mangione was arrested by New York City police and not federal authorities.
When Mangione was arrested, federal prosecutors said they anticipated the state trial would take place first. Seidemann told Carro on Friday that Thompson’s family had also expressed a desire for the state trial to take place first.
“It appears the federal government has reneged on its agreement to let the state, which did most of the work in this case, go first,” Carro said Friday.
Scheduling the state trial first could help Manhattan prosecutors avoid double jeopardy issues. Under New York law, the prosecutor’s office could be barred from trying Mangione if his federal trial proceeds first.
State protections against double jeopardy come into play if a jury was sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. The cases involve different charges but the same alleged conduct.
Mangione is not scheduled to appear in court again in the state’s case until May, when Carro is expected to rule on a defense request to exclude certain evidence that prosecutors say links Mangione to the murder.
Those items include a 9mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which they say he described his intention to “wax” a health insurance executive.
Last week, Garnett ruled that prosecutors could use the items in this trial.
In September, Carro dropped the state terrorism charges but kept the rest of the case, including the intentional murder charge.
Thompson, 50, was killed Dec. 4, 2024, while walking to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.
Surveillance video shows a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police said “delay,” “refuse” and “drop” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles west of Manhattan.
