Luigi Mangione argues double jeopardy in bid to drop murder case, suppress evidence

Attorneys for the antheral accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson filed a question to the New York Supreme Court connected Thursday to suppress grounds successful the state's lawsuit against him, and to person the lawsuit dismissed completely. 

Luigi Mangione's attorney, Karen Friedman Angifilo, said successful the filing that statements her lawsuit made to Altoona, Pennsylvania constabulary earlier his apprehension connected Dec. 9, should beryllium excluded from his trial.

She claims that 2 constabulary officers, who located the alleged murderer wrong a McDonald's, "effectively had Mr. Mangione successful custody" by blocking the exit to the edifice portion they questioned him, each earlier arresting him and speechmaking him his Miranda rights. 

Friedman Angifilo argues that specified questioning violated her client's Fifth Amendment rights, and thus, his statements made to those officers should beryllium excluded from the trial. 

Luigi Mangione is escorted from an NYPD chopper successful New York City connected Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. Mangione is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

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The question besides says grounds collected from Mangione's backpack astatine the country of his apprehension should beryllium suppressed due to the fact that constabulary officers did not person a warrant to hunt the bag, successful usurpation of his Fourth Amendment rights. 

"The officers continued their warrantless hunt done Mr. Mangione's backpack astatine McDonald's adjacent aft helium was removed from the edifice by different officers and driven to the precinct," according to the motion.

Included successful the items recovered wrong the backpack that Mangione's defence seeks to suppress are the handgun utilized successful the alleged killing, a silencer, a weapon mag that was loaded with bullets, a reddish notebook containing Mangione's idiosyncratic writings, further writings, a machine chip, an iPhone and respective USB flash drives.

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Police besides recovered a tiny point "enclosed successful cardboard and wrapped successful tape." Inside was a machine spot which was besides taken arsenic evidence.

Further, the question seeks to prohibition the authorities "from eliciting laic non-eyewitness recognition grounds astatine trial." The authorities seeks plans to telephone NYPD Detective Oscar Diaz and Altoona constabulary officers Joseph Detwiler and Tyler Frye to place Mangione done surveillance footage based connected their "familiarity with the defendant."

"Here, the projected witnesses are not eyewitnesses to the crime," according to the motion. "Moreover, the witnesses had nary interactions with Mr. Mangione anterior to the video surveillance to marque them ‘sufficiently familiar’ with Mr. Mangione."

The defence besides asked the tribunal to disregard the coercion charges against Mangione, alleging that the expansive assemblage that indicted him "failed to found the required constituent that Mr. Mangione intended to intimidate oregon coerce a civilian population, power the policies of a portion of authorities by intimidation oregon coercion oregon impact the behaviour of a portion of authorities by murder, assassination oregon kidnapping."

Luigi Mangione appears successful Manhattan Criminal Court for a presumption proceeding successful New York City connected Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Mangione is accused of sidesplitting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson extracurricular of a Manhattan edifice past year. (Curtis Means/Pool)

Finally, Friedman Angifilo asked the authorities of New York to driblet the full lawsuit against her client, claiming that trying him astatine the authorities and national levels concurrently constitutes treble jeopardy and frankincense a usurpation of Mangione's Fifth Amendment rights. 

"This Court is each that stands betwixt justness and Mr. Mangione being forced to basal proceedings against illegally obtained evidence, terrorism-related charges that person nary exertion to the alleged shooting of 1 antheral and concurrent prosecutions that interruption the Double Jeopardy Clause and his law rights," the question concludes. 

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said they volition respond successful tribunal filings of their own.

Mangione, 26, was besides indicted successful the Southern District of New York connected national charges of stalking and murdering Thompson, arsenic good arsenic utilizing physics communications, interstate question and a firearm erstwhile helium allegedly killed the healthcare security CEO.

Luigi Mangione departs the courtroom pursuing his arraignment successful New York City Criminal Court connected Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

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He was besides charged federally with 1 number of utilizing a firearm to perpetrate murder, 1 number of interstate stalking resulting successful death, 1 number of stalking done usage of interstate facilities resulting successful decease and 1 number of discharging a firearm that was equipped with a silencer successful furtherance of a transgression of violence. 

Mangione is accused of ambushing Thompson extracurricular a Manhattan edifice wherever UnitedHealthcare's yearly shareholder league was being held connected Dec. 4, 2024. Prosecutors judge the fatal shooting was meant to nonstop a connection to the healthcare security manufacture based connected a manifesto recovered connected the fishy erstwhile helium was arrested days aft Thompson's murder.

He would look the decease punishment if convicted. 

Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.