Luigi Mangione in court as he fights to block death penalty, murder charge and key evidence

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione returned to federal court Friday for a pivotal hearing in his fight to bar the government from seeking the death penalty against him in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Mangione’s lawyers contend that authorities prejudiced his case by turning his December 2024 arrest into a “Marvel movie” spectacle and by publicly declaring their desire to see him executed even before he was formally indicted.

If that doesn’t work, they argue, the charge that has enabled the government to seek the death penalty — murder by firearm — should be thrown out because it is legally flawed.

Federal prosecutors say Mangione’s lawyers are wrong, countering that the murder charge is legally sufficient and that “pretrial publicity, even when intense” is hardly a constitutional crisis. Any concerns about public perceptions can be alleviated by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges, which carry the possibility of life in prison.

Friday’s hearing, Mangione’s first trip to Manhattan federal court since his April 25 arraignment, also involves the defense’s bid to exclude certain evidence.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she wasn’t ready to set a trial date.

A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry, Mangione again drew dozens of supporters to the courthouse. Some wore green clothing and carried signs such as “Free Luigi” and “No Death For Luigi Mangione.”

Mangione’s lawyers have asked the judge to bar the government from using certain items found in a backpack during his arrest, arguing that the search was illegal because police had not yet obtained a warrant.

Those items include a gun that police said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which he purportedly described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.

Garnett answered one big question right away, saying she was not inclined to hold a separate hearing on the evidence issue like one last month that took three weeks in Mangione’s parallel state murder case.

Mangione’s lawyers wanted one. Prosecutors didn’t. They contend police were justified in searching the backpack to make sure there were no dangerous items and that the gun, notebook and other evidence would have eventually been found anyway.

Thompson, 50, was killed Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, 27, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

He’s already had success paring down his state case. In September, a judge threw out state terrorism charges against him.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last year that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, declaring that capital punishment was warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Mangione’s lawyers argue that Bondi’s announcement, which she followed with Instagram posts and a TV appearance, showed the decision was “based on politics, not merit.” Her remarks tainted the grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks later, they said.

Bondi’s statements and other official actions, including a choreographed perp walk in which armed officers led Mangione from a Manhattan pier, “have violated Mr. Mangione’s constitutional and statutory rights and have fatally prejudiced this death penalty case,” his lawyers said.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors pushed back on what they said were the defense’s “meritless” and “misleading” claims that Bondi’s decision was tainted by her past work as a lobbyist for a firm whose clients include UnitedHealthcare’s parent company.