New York prosecutors aim to keep Luigi Mangione state murder case alive

Mangione’s lawyers claim trying him on state murder charges would trigger double jeopardy since he already pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges. MANHATTAN (CN) — The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office filed a motion on Friday urging a judge not to dismiss the New York murder case against Luigi Mangione after the admitted CEO killer claimed his federal guilty plea should trigger double jeopardy.Prosecutors argue that Mangione pleaded guilty to a “different evil” when he copped to two federal stalking charges relating to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. Those federal counts are different enough from the state’s murder case that double jeopardy shouldn’t apply, the district attorney’s office claims.In the 49-page brief, prosecutors argue Mangione’s federal stalking charges required that the victim be placed “in reasonable fear” of death or serious bodily injury. “No such element is required for the state murder charge, which can lead to a conviction even if the victim is totally unaware of — and thus never in fear of — the murderer’s actions,” the district attorney’s office claims.Prosecutors further argue that the intentionality of the charges differ vastly between the state and federal indictment.“The federal sentencing provision requires neither an intent to kill nor proximate causation; it may be triggered even if death resulted accidentally and unforeseeably," they argue. “In stark contrast, defendant’s New York murder charge requires both intent to kill and proximate causation.”That difference, the state prosecutors claim, highlights “the different evils addressed by the two regimes.”In addition to the murder count, Mangione was hit with gun charges in his state case. Those should survive too, the state claims, since he hasn’t been separately prosecuted on federal weapons charges at all. He was initially charged in the Southern District of New York in connection with using a firearm for murder, but that count was dropped when the government tried to tie it to the death penalty. “A mere charge is thus not enough to trigger double jeopardy; instead, a case must proceed to a guilty plea,” the district attorney’s office claims. “The defendant must be presently facing a charge on an offense at the time of the guilty plea for jeopardy to attach to that offense.On Aug. 14, Mangione pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Thompson on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk on Dec. 4, 2024. At the change-of-plea hearing, he said he was motivated to kill the 50-year-old healthcare executive “after years of enduring severe pain from a broken back and navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system.”“On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said, reading a written statement at the defense table.Immediately following the hearing, his defense team filed a motion to dismiss his parallel state murder prosecution on double jeopardy grounds. “From the day of his arrest … Luigi Mangione has been a pawn in parallel prosecutions pursued by the New York County District Attorney's Office and the United States Department of Justice,” the defense claims in the filing. “Both have sensationalized the case and misapplied statutes in an effort to overcharge him.” Federal prosecutors initially sought the death penalty. But a judge struck it down earlier this year, finding Supreme Court precedent made capital punishment unlawful in this case. State prosecutors have long acknowledged that a federal guilty plea could threaten their own case against Mangione. They primed a Manhattan judge for the possibility over the summer, when they told a judge they had “primary jurisdiction” over Mangione’s prosecution since state authorities had him in custody before the feds did.New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro is scheduled to rule on whether to dismiss the state indictment on Dec. 10. On Dec. 18, Mangione will be sentenced in federal court — he could face life in prison. Follow @Uebey Follow @uebey.bsky.social Subscribe to our free newsletters Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts. Additional Reads