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Mangione's lawyers reverse course on psychiatric defence in state murder trial
Lawyers for the defendant accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson will no longer argue a psychiatric defence at his state murder trial.
Luigi Mangione's attorneys reversed course a day after telling Judge Gregory Carro that they would try to show he was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the occurrence".
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both the federal and state cases against him for the fatal shooting of Thompson in midtown Manhattan at the end of 2024.
The BBC has contacted Mangione's attorneys. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment.
The reversal came ahead of a Thursday deadline Mangione's legal team was facing to provide prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney's office with information in support of the psychiatric defence claim.
If Mangione had pursued the psychiatric defence, and the jury accepted it, then he could have faced a shorter prison sentence as he might have faced a conviction for manslaughter, instead of murder.
By using a psychiatric defence argument, Mangione would have essentially admitted to killing Thompson with mitigating circumstances, legal expert Richard Schoenstein told CBS.
That argument is different from pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, which typically seeks exoneration and a punishment that includes a psychiatric facility rather than prison.
Mangione appeared in court on Wednesday as the judge spoke about his then-planned psychiatric defence.
His next court date is scheduled for 11 August, before the state trial begins on 8 September.
Mangione is also facing federal stalking charges, which can bring a maximum sentence of life in prison.
He was arrested days after Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was shot from behind by a masked gunman on 4 December 2024 as he walked into a Manhattan hotel for an annual investor conference.
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Luigi Mangione’s lawyers withdraw psychiatric defense in CEO murder trial
The decision comes a day after Mangione’s team said they intended to argue that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance
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In a reversal, Luigi Mangione’s lawyers told a judge Thursday that he will no longer pursue a psychiatric defense in his state murder trial over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The decision came just a day after his legal team said they intended to argue that the 28-year-old Ivy League graduate was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the Dec. 4, 2024, killing.
A spokesperson for Mangione’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Mangione’s lawyers were facing a Thursday deadline to provide prosecutors with evidence supporting the emotional disturbance claim. Also on Thursday, a transcript from a June 3 closed-door hearing on the issue was unsealed after Judge Gregory Carro ordered it made public.
If Mangione were to have gone through with the extreme emotional disturbance defense, he would have effectively been admitting that he killed Thompson but did so because of mitigating circumstances. It wouldn’t have absolved him of responsibility, but could have led to less time in prison.
If a jury accepts the defense, it is obligated to convict a defendant of manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which carries a potential life sentence.
In a letter to Carro on Thursday, Mangione lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said the defense “respectfully withdraws” its notice under New York's psychiatric defense statute.
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. His state trial is scheduled to start Sept. 8. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13.
At Wednesday's hearing, Friedman Agnifilo protested Carro’s decision to unseal materials related to his psychiatric defense, saying it will be “prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts” in his federal case, where an extreme emotional disturbance defense isn’t allowed.
An emotional disturbance defense is not the same as a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, which would allow a defendant to go to a psychiatric facility instead of prison.
Thompson, 50, was killed 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, an Ivy League graduate from 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.
At a hearing last month, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him.
The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”
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Attorneys for Luigi Mangione are withdrawing his psychiatric defense in the state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, documents filed Thursday show.
The development comes one day after a judge said the defense team planned to argue that Mangione was experiencing an extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing.
Mangione faces eight felony charges, including second-degree murder, in connection with the fatal shooting of Thompson outside an annual investor conference in Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024.
Mangione also faces federal stalking charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Both the Manhattan district attorney’s office and Mangione’s lawyers declined to comment.
Had the defense team been able to prove the disturbance, a possible conviction would have been reduced from second-degree murder to first-degree manslaughter.
On Wednesday, state Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro, who is overseeing the case, said he would unseal records relating to an affirmative psychiatric defense and an emotional disturbance at the time of the killing.
On Thursday, Carro said they would remain sealed.
According to a transcript released Thursday, Mangione’s legal team told the judge in early June that logistics related to the federal case made it difficult for them to present an emotional disturbance defense strategy.
The defense attorneys also said at that hearing that some doctors had refused to cooperate as medical experts because of the notoriety of the case.
Mangione’s trial is scheduled to begin in September.
Thompson, 50, was chief executive of the country’s largest health insurer, and his killing unleashed a torrent of hostility toward the industry.
Prosecutors have said they plan to introduce evidence from a diary seized during Mangione’s arrest that authorities say details his plans to kill Thompson and describes what to do if you want to “rebel against the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”
“Wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” the diary says, according to a filing from the district attorney’s office. “It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents.”
Mangione’s lawyers sought to bar the diary from being used as evidence at trial, arguing that it was seized illegally during a warrantless search.
Carro rejected that argument and described the search that recovered the diary as valid.
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Mangione's lawyers plan psychiatric defence in state murder trial
Lawyers for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson, will argue a psychiatric defence at his state murder trial, a judge said on Wednesday.
According to CBS News, the BBC's US news partner, Mangione's lawyers have told Judge Gregory Carro that they will try to show he was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the occurrence".
He has pleaded not guilty in both the federal and state cases against him for the shooting death of Thompson in midtown Manhattan at the end of 2024.
If a jury agrees with the psychiatric defence, then it could convict Mangione of manslaughter, instead of murder.
The judge has announced that he would unseal court records related to the defence's plan, according to CBS.
Mangione was in the New York courtroom on Wednesday for the discussion, images show. He was scheduled to be in court on Tuesday, but that appearance was cancelled due to a reported mistake by the prosecution.
His state trial is set to begin on 8 September.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, is also facing federal stalking charges, which can bring a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Federal murder and firearms charges against him were dropped earlier this year.
Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was shot from behind by a masked gunman on 4 December, 2024, as he walked into a Manhattan hotel for an annual investor conference.
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Luigi Mangione will assert a psychiatric defense in his state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the judge overseeing the case said at a hearing on Wednesday.
New York State Judge Gregory Carro said he would be unsealing a notice from September regarding affirmative psychiatric defense and emotional disturbance at the time of the killing.
If convicted, Mangione, 28, could be sent to a psychiatric facility instead of prison if his defense attorneys succeed in arguing that he was not of sound mind at the time of Thompson’s killing.
Carro said that the defense needs to submit additional documentation regarding the psychiatric defense no later than tomorrow.
“Get it done,” Carro said.
Mangione appeared in the courtroom on Wednesday wearing a dark navy suit and a button down shirt. He looked down and was handcuffed when he walked into the room.
He is facing state charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Thompson, 50, on the streets of New York City in December 2024.
A days-long manhunt for Thompson’s killer captivated the world and ended with Mangione’s arrest in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was apprehended.
Mangione is also facing federal charges in New York and state charges in Pennsylvania in connection with the case. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
If convicted in the New York case, he faces a possibility of life in prison.
Carro ruled last month that prosecutors can use a gun and a red notebook found on Mangione during his arrest as evidence.
The next court hearing will be in August and it will be virtual. The trial is scheduled to begin on September 8.
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