Luigi Mangione's federal trial pushed to January as elevator delays court hearing
A judge has postponed Luigi Mangione's federal murder trial to January 2026, allowing his lawyers to focus on the state trial beginning 8 September.
Federal trial in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing moved to January
Luigi Mangione arrived roughly 20 minutes late to a Manhattan federal court hearing on Monday after getting stuck in a courthouse elevator — an inauspicious start to a session that ended with his federal murder trial pushed back to January, pbs.org reports.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett announced the postponement, saying she could no longer wait to see how the parallel state proceedings develop. Jury selection in the federal case, previously set for 13 October, will now begin on 5 January. Opening statements and testimony are scheduled to follow on 25 January, instead of the original 4 November date.
Garnett said she had hoped "with perhaps undue optimism" to hold the federal trial in the autumn but concluded it was "simply impossible to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully occupied by conducting the state trial." The state murder trial is scheduled to begin on 8 September.
A second arrival delay in recent weeks
Wearing a beige jail suit, Mangione looked bemused as two deputy U.S. Marshals escorted him into the courtroom. He briefly scanned the gallery, where about two dozen supporters had gathered. "Mangione was late due to elevator problems," the court said in a statement.
It was the second disrupted court arrival in recent weeks. A 16 June hearing in the state case was delayed by a day after prosecutors failed to notify his jail that he was needed in court.
Two trials, one defendant
Mangione, 28, an Ivy League graduate, has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges in the 4 December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50. He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted in either case.
The federal charges allege that Mangione travelled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Thompson, making use of a cellphone, the internet and interstate highways while planning the attack, and staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers.
Thompson was shot from behind as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group's annual investor conference. Surveillance footage showed a masked gunman. Police say the words "delay," "deny" and "depose" were written on the ammunition, echoing a phrase used to describe tactics insurers employ to avoid paying claims.
Mangione was arrested five days after the killing at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, approximately 370 kilometres west of Manhattan.
Evidence and psychiatric defence
In January, Garnett removed the death penalty as a sentencing option but ruled that items seized from Mangione's backpack at the time of his arrest could be used as evidence. Those items included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the weapon used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to target an insurance executive.
Earlier this month, Mangione's lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defence in the state case — centred on claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing — but reversed course a day later. That defence is not available in federal court.
At a February hearing in the state case, Mangione himself spoke out against the prospect of facing two trials, telling the judge: "It's the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition." His lawyers had argued that back-to-back trials on a compressed timeline would violate his constitutional rights.
Garnett said she will not release the juror questionnaire until after a panel has been selected, noting that having the document circulating online for months before jury selection "would only make what promises to be a difficult task more difficult."
A polarising figure
Mangione has attracted significant public attention since his arrest. An online fundraiser for his legal defence has raised more than $1.5 million. Supporters have appeared at court hearings wearing "FREE LUIGI" T-shirts and green clothing — a reference to the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi. About two dozen were present in the gallery on Monday.
During the brief hearing, Mangione appeared engaged and energetic, watching proceedings closely and speaking animatedly with his lawyers, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, before the session began. His lawyers declined to comment to reporters afterward.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)