Luigi Mangione is no longer facing the death penalty for the alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Judge Margaret Garnett issued a decision on Friday (Jan. 30), just minutes in advance of Mangione’s appearance at a status hearing in his federal case. The decision, which appeared to be greeted with cheers by Mangione’s supporters in the building, struck down two of the four counts he is charged with — the only two that were death penalty-eligible.
Those two counts, murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense, both had as a necessary predicate that the crime committed on top of the killing, which was stalking, be a “crime of violence.” Whether Mangione’s alleged stalking of Thompson counted as a crime of violence was the subject of a contentious court hearing earlier this month. Judge Garnett decided that it didn’t, and thus the counts — and by extension the death penalty — are struck from the case. Mangione still faces the possibility of life in prison on the remaining counts.
At Friday’s hearing, Judge Garnett acknowledged that prosecutors could appeal her ruling. Lead prosecutor Dominic Gentile admitted that he couldn’t yet say whether he would appeal.
After the hearing, Mangione’s defense team spoke to reporters.
“We’re all very relieved,” Karen Agnifilo said of the reaction to the decision.
She thanked the court for the decision, and acknowledged her client’s supporters.
“We get all your letters, we get all your emails,” she said.
It wasn’t all good news for Mangione, however. His team had been fighting to suppress the contents of the backpack he had on him at the time of his arrest, and Garnett denied that request on Friday.
In court, Mangione, dressed in a tan prison jumpsuit and a blue undershirt and with his legs shackled, did not noticeably react to the death penalty news.
The majority of Friday’s hearing was devoted to issues around his upcoming federal trial. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on September 8, with the actual proceedings to begin on October 12.
Judge Garnett acknowledged that her timeline could be pushed back if the government appeals her death penalty ruling. But until she hears about that, the judge said, “our trial date is firm.” Both sides confirmed that they’d be ready for trial on the current schedule. Mangione’s attorneys did note, however, that New York State wants their trial on separate state charges to happen this summer, something Mangione’s team strenuously objects to and is fighting.
One disagreement between the judge and the parties came over how wide a net to cast for potential jurors. Both sides wanted questionnaires to be sent to around 1,000 jurors — so many that it would take the sides months to sort through them.
Judge Garnett fired back that 1,000 was “not realistic or necessary,” and that she planned on using closer to 400.
Mangione became a public cause célèbre after being accused of killing Thompson in December 2024.
