Luigi Mangione Will Not Face the Death Penalty. Here’s the Latest on His Case

Luigi Mangione, who is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024, will not face the death penalty if convicted, a federal judge ruled on Friday. The judge dismissed two of the most serious federal charges Mangione faced, including one that would have made him eligible for capital punishment. The decision marks the latest legal victory for the 27-year-old Ivy League graduate, whose lawyers also successfully got terrorism-related state charges against him dropped in September. He still faces multiple charges, however, on both the state and federal level.  Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9, 2024, after allegedly shooting Thompson in Midtown Manhattan as the CEO was walking to a conference five days prior. He was later charged with a litany of counts in New York and Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, as well as on the federal level. He has pleaded not guilty on all the federal and state charges against him. The state of New York does not enforce the death penalty, and none of the charges he faces in Pennsylvania are death penalty-eligible. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would seek the death penalty against Mangione, calling Thompson’s shooting “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.” The decision fell in line with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order that instructed the department to resume pursuing the death penalty, after a President Joe Biden declared a moratorium on federal executions in 2021 and later commuted the sentences of most of the people on federal death row.  Following Bondi’s announcement, attorneys for Mangione argued that “the United States government intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.” Two days before Friday’s federal court ruling, a Minnesota man allegedly attempted to free Mangione from the notorious Brooklyn jail where he is being held by posing as a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent who had a court order to release Mangione, authorities said. The suspect is now being held in the same jail.  Here’s what to know about where Mangione’s case stands following the most recent developments. What the judge ruled on Friday  U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett dismissed two charges against Mangione: one of using a firearm to commit murder, which carries a maximum sentence of death, and another firearm-related count.  The murder charge can legally only be applied when committed alongside another “crime of violence.” The prosecution argued that the stalking charges Mangione faces meet that standard. Garnett, however, disagreed.  The judge asserted in her ruling that the firearm charges did not “meet the federal statutory definition of a ‘crime of violence’ as matter of law,” while noting that her decision was “solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury.” “The analysis contained in the balance of this opinion may strike the average person —  and indeed many lawyers and judges — as tortured and strange, and the result may seem contrary to our intuitions about the criminal law,” Garnett wrote. “But it represents the Court’s committed effort to faithfully apply the dictates of the Supreme Court to the charges in this case. The law must be the Court’s only concern.”  Garnett also ruled that key pieces of evidence seized at the time of Mangione’s arrest could be used in his trial. The evidence includes several items recovered from a backpack Mangione was carrying, among them a gun federal authorities have said is consistent with the weapon used to kill Thompson;  a loaded magazine; fake IDs; and a notebook that prosecutors have alleged in court filings contains entries expressing “hostility” toward the U.S. healthcare system and “wealthy executives in particular.” Mangione’s lawyers had attempted to have the evidence dismissed, arguing that it was obtained through an illegal search.  What charges does Mangione still face? While dismissing two of the four federal charges Mangione faced, Garnett left in place two stalking charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.  On the state level, Mangione is facing nine charges in New York, including a charge of second-degree murder. If convicted in that case, Mangione could face a sentence of 25 years to life.  He also faces multiple counts in the separate case brought against him in Pennsylvania, where he was apprehended by authorities while sitting in a McDonald’s in Altoona, ending the nation-wide manhunt for Thompson’s killer. Those charges include providing fraudulent identification to police and possessing an unlicensed firearm. Jury selection in the federal trial is set to start on Sept. 8, while opening statements are scheduled for Oct. 13.  Dates have not yet been set for him to face trial on the state charges. New York prosecutors on Wednesday requested that Mangione’s trial in that case be held in July, before the federal trial is scheduled to begin.