'WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT': LUIGI MANGIONE’S LAWYER VOWS COURTROOM BATTLE
WOMEN SMILE IN COURT AS LAWYER OF ALLEGED ASSASSIN ATTACKS NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS FOR PRESUMING HER CLIENT'S GUILT
Dec. 23, 2024
Luigi Mangione's lawyer promised prosecutors a courtroom battle as her client pleaded not guilty to first-degree terrorist murder and related charges for allegedly assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York on Dec. 4.
"We're going to fight these charges … to the fullest extent" Mangione's lawyer, Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, told Judge Gregory Carro in state supreme court on Monday.
A court clerk kicked-off the hearing by reading the charges aloud and asking Mangione “How do you plead to this indictment, sir, guilty or not guilkty?”
The 26-year-old Maryland native leaned forward in his seat at the defense table to reach the court microphone offered to him and answered in a clear and strong voice, “Not guilty.”
Friedman-Agnifilo, a former Manhattan prosecutor, attacked what she called the "conflicting theories" of the different charges against her client and claimed Mayor Eric Adams was attempting to prejudice potential jurors by making damning public comments presuming Mangione's guilt.
"The mayor should know better than anyone about the presumption of innocence," Friedman-Agnifilo said, apparently referring to the federal criminal charges Mayor Adams is himself facing.
"I am very concerned about my client’s right to a fair trial," she stressed. "He's being prejudiced by some statements that are being made by Government officials."
The majority of the approximately 30 members of the public allowed into the courtroom to witness the arraignment were women—only about five were men. Some were courtroom regulars. Many smiled at Mangione when he appeared.
The indictment secured by Manhattan District Attorneyt Alvin Bragg charges Mangione with overlapping counts of first degree murder, second degree terrorist murder, illegal weapons possession and illegal possession of a fake official identification. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life without parole.
These charges are independent and in addition to the federal charges filed against Mangione last Thursday in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The federal charges carry the death penalty, but the state charges do not because New York's death penalty law was ruled unconstitutional under the state constitution in 2004.
Mangione also faces illegal weapons and fake identification possession charges in Pennsylvania.
Reporters shouted questions at Mangione as police perp-walked him, handcuffed and shackled, to his arraignment inside the Manhattan Criminal Court building about 9:30am but Mangione did not reply. He wore a light-colored collared shirt under a burgundy sweater.
Bragg, the Manhattan prosecutor, called Thompson's killing a “brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting” at a news conference last Tuesday. A terrorist-related charge was justified, Bragg explained, because the murder was "intended to evoke terror."
“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation," he added. "It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatening the safety of local residents and tourists alike, commuters and businesspeople just starting out on their day.”
Thompson was shot multiple times with a suppressed 9mm handgun as he strolled down the sidewalk outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan on his way to UnitedHealthcare's annual investor conference. "Deny," "Depose" and "Delay" were engraved on bullet casings police said they found at the scene.
Mangione escaped and evaded capture for five days. He was arrested in a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9. Police said a member of the public called in a tip, saying he looked like the suspect in photographs broadcast by the NYPD.
Police and prosecutors allege Magione was carrying a fake ID used by the killer to check into a Manhattan hostel before the murder, an entirely 3D printed ghost gun in 9mm, a suppressor that fit the gun, 9mm bullets and a 262-word note addressed “To the Feds.”
"Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming,” the note allegedly says. “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done."
To the horror of pundits and politicians nationwide, the American public turned Mangione into a saint.
Mangione waived extradition back to New York from Pennsylvania and was brought to Manhattan last Thursday. He's being held by federal prosecutors in a Brooklyn federal jail called the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said federal prosecutors informed them “they intend on allowing us to try our case first.”
“The trial and the sentence will take place here prior to anything taking place in the federal system,” Seidermann said.
Judge Carro, a former prosecutor himself, had to issue a court order known as a writ of habeas corpus requiring federal officials to bring Mangione to state court. The writ required his return to federal custody after the hearing.
Judge Carro said he would not order Mangione transferred to the City’s jail on Rikers Island, but Seidermann said his team would "make every effort to" persuade federal officials to agree to his transfer—which suggests federal authorities might not give him up.
Mangione is due back in state court on Feb. 21.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump called the killing "cold-blooded."
Trump will nominate the next U.S. Attorney who will decide whether to seek the death penalty against Mangione. When Trump was president from 2017 to 2021, Trump executed 13 federal prisoners—more than any other U.S. president since the 19th century.
Federal prosecutors said last Thursday it was “currently expected” the state charges against Mangione would “proceed to trial before the federal case.”
Mangione is currently due back in federal court on Jan. 18, but he will probably appear sooner when he is indicted for an arraignment.