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Luigi Mangione Expected To Plead Guilty In Federal Court Today
Topline Luigi Mangione will appear in federal court Friday morning, where multiple outlets suggest he’s expected to plead guilty to stalking charges, potentially fending off one of two trials the suspect faces for the alleged killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson—though his separate trial on state charges could still start next month as scheduled.
An 11 a.m. EDT hearing is scheduled in Mangione’s case, which was abruptly put on the calendar at the last minute this week and will take place at a federal courthouse in New York City.
The 28-year-old faces two federal charges for stalking related in death, which are punishable by life in prison, though the court threw out harsher murder charges that could have resulted in the death penalty (he initially pleaded not guilty to all of them).
The hearing follows reports by multiple outlets Thursday suggesting Mangione is expected to plead guilty, but the details of any plea are still unclear, and Mangione’s attorneys have not publicly confirmed their intention to enter a plea.
Mangione’s lawyers are expected to use any plea deal in federal court to try and get the suspect out of his separate trial in New York state court, by arguing that “double jeopardy” laws should prohibit him from being tried twice for the same crime.
It’s still unclear if that gambit will work, the Times notes, as prosecutors in New York are likely to argue his state charges—which include second-degree murder—are substantially different enough to still warrant a trial.
It’s still possible the plea discussions could fall apart before or during the hearing and the deal could not come to fruition, the Times notes, with ABC also noting previous talks over a plea fell apart in June. It’s also possible state prosecutors may ask the federal court not to accept any deal the two sides reach. Assistant District Attorney Joel J. Seidemann noted in a July letter to the state court that public reporting suggested Mangione was considering a federal plea. He argued that if such a plea deal would “defeat a just outcome in the state prosecution,” prosecutors “could advise the federal district court of that consequence, and the court should consider that fact in deciding whether to accept the plea.” If the plea negotiations fall through, Mangione would still be slated to go to trial in federal court in January as scheduled.
Mangione’s trial in state court is set to begin with jury selection Sept. 8, though any plea in federal court is likely to lead to a flurry of requests seeking to fend off that trial. The suspect also faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder at the state trial, as New York does not have the death penalty.
While the U.S. Supreme Court has broadly allowed people to be prosecuted in both state and federal court for the same crime, New York has a stronger law against “double jeopardy” prosecutions. The state generally forbids prosecuting people twice for the same crime, but there are a few exceptions. Multiple prosecutions are allowed if each prosecution “contains an element which is not an element of the other,” for instance, or if “the acts establishing one offense are in the main clearly distinguishable from those establishing the other.” That means state prosecutors could try to argue that the state charges against Mangione, which include murder and possession of a weapon, are materially different from the stalking charges he could plead guilty to in federal court. Whether or not that will be successful remains to be seen, with the Times noting prosecutors have previously both failed and succeeded at bringing charges in the past. “It is incredibly complicated,” defense attorney Paul Shechtman told the Times earlier in August about New York’s law.
Mangione was arrested in December 2024 following a dayslong manhunt, after Thompson was shot on the streets of midtown Manhattan in the early morning of Dec. 2. The suspect was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and was found with an alleged “manifesto” that railed against corporate greed and the U.S. healthcare industry. Mangione’s case has garnered widespread attention and the suspect has attracted some support amid Americans’ growing disillusionment with rising healthcare costs. The Justice Department initially sought the death penalty against Mangione, bringing charges for murder through use of a firearm and use of a firearm with a silencer to commit a “crime of violence.” Former Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had directed prosecutors to pursue the death penalty “after careful consideration,” citing President Donald Trump’s “agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.” The court threw out those charges in January, however, ruling Mangione could only face those charges if the other federal charges he faced are considered “crimes of violence” under federal law, which they are not.
Luigi Mangione Won’t Face Death Penalty As Judge Throws Out Two Charges (Forbes)
Luigi Mangione Trial Starts Next Month—Here’s What To Expect (Forbes)
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