by ALEXX ALTMAN-DEVILBISS | The National News Desk
TOPICS:
BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. (TNND) — The Pennsylvania lawyer representing suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione is seeking to dismiss the criminal charges he faces in the state.
The 26-year-old is accused of gunning down CEO Brian Thompson near a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 and leading police on a five-day manhunt where he was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona.
He faces charges of possessing an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification.
Attorney Thomas Dickey argued in a court filing reviewed by The Independentthat the charges he faces should be dismissed because they were based on evidence "received as a fruit of an illegal stop, seizure, detention, and/or arrest."
Dickey also claims Mangione was not positively identified as the suspect until after he was arrested.
Police had "no paperwork, photograph, warrant, communication, or other information in its possession corroborating the speculation that Defendant was in fact the person being sought in New York,” according to the filing.
In February, Dickey filed a motion to suppress evidence, search warrants, statements made at his arraignment, as well as the reference to his "manifesto" claiming that Altoona police violated his rights and illegally detained him.
In the 23-page court filing, Dickey alleges that police "cornered" Mangione inside the restaurant and would not allow him to leave under his own merit, never told him he was "free to go" and reportedly provided "no explanation" for the encounter other than he "looked suspicious."
The attorney further alleges that officers continued to illegally question Mangione inside the restaurant and conducted an illegal "pat down" while not reading him his Miranda Rights for 15 minutes.
Police also searched his belongings, including his backpack, without a valid warrant, Dickey argued. A 9pmm handgun, a mechanized upper receiver, a suspected 3D-printed suppressor, handwritten notes and a red notebook were found.
Nearly two weeks after his initial arrest, Mangione waived his preliminary hearing in the case and was extradited to New York, where he is facing both state and federal charges. He pleaded not guilty to murder and terror charges in New York.
An unsealed federal complaint also charges him with two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense. He has yet to make a plea.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, the attorney representing him in New York, has also said she believes there were search and seizure violations during his Pennsylvania arrest.