Luigi Mangione is scheduled to appear in federal court Friday in a surprise conference requested jointly by prosecutors and his defense team.
The request came on the heels of an appearance by Mangione, 28, in state court Tuesday — expected to be the 28-year-old’s last before he goes on trial next month on charges stemming from the December 2024 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday.
In the federal case, scheduled to go to trial in January 2027, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal stalking charges.
Two other counts, including murder through use of a firearm, were dismissed.
In June, Mangione’s attorneys had previously spoken with federal prosecutors about a potential plea deal, but none was reached at that time.
At that time, Mangione defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo accused the prosecution of trying to “manipulate public opinion” against her client.
“This information attributed to ‘anonymous sources’ is part of a troubling, deliberate pattern by prosecutors and law enforcement to prejudice Luigi, manipulate public opinion, and violate his constitutional right to a fair trial and impartial jury. Every defendant in America is presumed innocent until proven guilty, including Luigi, who has to fight the same charges twice,” she said.
The timing indicates Mangione’s defense team may be pursuing a double-jeopardy argument in federal court. If successful, it could result in a plea deal that gets the state charges thrown out.
“The defense lawyers, quite expectedly and as they should be, are trying to work out a federal disposition first, regardless of that doctrine, hoping that the state case would be thrown out eventually based on the doctrine of double jeopardy,” said Michael Bachner, a defense attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor.
“Once the feds resolve the case, the New York State constitution may say, ‘you can no longer try him,'” Bachner said.
Jury selection in Mangione’s New York state trial was set for Sept. 8.
The jurors will be kept anonymous over concerns that they may be subject to “harassment, intimidation, or improper outside influence” if their identifying information is publicly released, according to Judge Gregory Carro.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett issued a ruling in January that effectively blocks New York federal prosecutors from pursuing a capital case.
The death penalty is no longer a possibility. Mangione faces potential life sentences in both the federal and state cases.
In the viral moment that made Mangione a national figure,
he is accused of shooting Thompson from behind on a Manhattan sidewalk outside a hotel where the CEO was staying for an investors’ conference. Two spent shell casings found at the scene had the words “deny,” “depose” and “delay” written on them.
After a five-day manhunt, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The December 2024 killing sparked widespread public debate about healthcare industry practices.
A red notebook was recovered by police at the time of his December 9 arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. In diary writings contained in that notebook, Mangione vents about his frustrations with the health insurance industry and his intent to carry out an attack.
Mangione’s case has garnered international headlines, with mostly female supporters who have appeared in court throughout the pretrial hearings and argue that the CEO’s killing was justified.
Jury selection in the New York state trial begins Sept. 8.