Watch CBS News
By Ali Bauman, Christina Fan
/ CBS New York
Luigi Mangione appeared in New York state court Friday in Manhattan in the case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing.
The preliminary pretrial hearing was Mangione’s first court appearance since he pleaded not guilty to 11 state charges, including first degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, in December. The Ivy League graduate accused of assassinating Thompson also faces federal murder charges that are eligible for the death penalty.
In court, New York prosecutors described some of the evidence they submitted, including surveillance video and forensic tests. Mangione’s defense attorney expressed concern that she is still missing the bulk of the evidence, which she told the judge may infringe on his right to a fair trial.
Mangione, 26, walked into the courtroom Friday afternoon and sat attentive. He was clean-shaven, wearing a bulletproof vest with a white collar and green sweater poking out from under it.
Defense attorney Karen Agnifilo asked the judge if the shackles on Mangione’s hands and feet could be removed for the hearing, calling him “a model prisoner,” but the judge refused.
“When I go visit Luigi at [Metropolitan Detention Center] in Brooklyn, I sit with him. He is unshackled. He walks around freely in the visit area. We sit in a room together without law enforcement hovering over us. But for whatever reason here, despite all the law enforcement, they need him to be wearing this vest,” Agnifilo said after the hearing.
The hearing marked the first time in 60 days that Mangione was allowed to leave the federal jail in Brooklyn, where he is being held without bail.
Outside the courtroom, Mangione’s supporters chanted for his release throughout the hearing, loud enough at times to be heard from inside. About 100 members of the public waited in the halls to get a seat in court. Ultimately, 19 of them did. Some smiled at Mangione as he walked past them.
Prosecutors alleged Mangione was driven by anger at the health insurance industry and described some of the evidence they submitted, including surveillance video and forensic tests. They also mentioned a notebook detailing his plans, which investigators said Mangione had when he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Agnifilo claimed she did not received the notebook or other crucial pieces of evidence from the prosecution.
“Luigi’s right to a fair trial is bring infringed upon because he is being publicly treated as guilty and as having the presumption of guilt as opposed to the presumption of innocence, which is what he is entitled to,” Agnifilo said.
The judge set an April 9 deadline for the defense to submit pretrial motions and gave prosecutors until May 14 to respond. The judge is expected to rule on the motions on June 26.
Mangione’s next appearance is in federal court on March 19.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in the killing of Thompson outside the Hilton Midtown hotel on Dec. 4, 2024.
The UnitedHealthcare CEO, husband and father of two was gunned down on the sidewalk as he walked to an investors conference.
After a five-day manhunt, police arrested Mangione at a McDonalds in Pennsylvania. Police said he was carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry.
Mangione is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
During his arraignment in December, Mangione’s defense attorney accused New York City Mayor Eric Adams of tainting the jury pool by bringing Mangione back to Manhattan in a choreographed show of force, surrounded by heavily armed officers.
Last week, for the first time since his arrest, Mangione released a public statement in which he expressed gratitude for letters of support he has received in jail. Mangione’s attorneys say he has accepted more than $300,000 in donations for his legal defense.
Mangione also faces federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty. Prosecutors said that both cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first.
“We have two sovereigns in this country — we have a state sovereign and we have a federal sovereign. They do not interact with each other in the sense of they depend on each other,” legal analyst Tracy Pearson told CBS News New York. “The state is going to go first, as far as we know at this point, and then it will move over to the federal system. The elements and the requirements for the prosecutors to prove each of these charges are different.”
Pearson explained the state may have a difficult time arguing the murder as an act of terrorism charge.
“That statute, in particular, requires that they establish that it was an attempt to terrorize the civilian population. In this situation, what we’re talking about is an alleged individual targeting of one person,” she said. “It was a statute that was enacted after 9/11, so it makes sense in that context, maybe not in this one.”
Pearson also said the jury selection process could be complicated, given the outpouring of online support for Mangione.
“That is a huge perception problem. As we saw with the case involving the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump, there was a very difficult jury selection process. It’s going to be that way here, because there’s been so may donations that have been made to a public fund for him,” she said. “That is also going to be difficult because, recently, one of those donations was made anonymously, so they’re going to have to make sure that the jurors aren’t people who have contributed to this fund.”
Ali Bauman is a New York Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist who has been a general assignment reporter for CBS News New York since spring 2016.
© 2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
