(NEW YORK) — The judge overseeing Luigi Mangione’s murder case in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson is set to issue a critical ruling Monday on what evidence and testimony prosecutors can use during the accused assassin’s murder trial.
New York Judge Gregory Carro is considering Mangione’s request to prohibit prosecutors from using the evidence that police seized from Mangione’s backpack — including the alleged murder weapon and writings that prosecutors say amount to a confession — as well as Mangione’s statements to law enforcement when he was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the shooting.
Mangione’s state murder trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8, and Carro’s decision will help define the contours of the high-profile criminal trial. If he limits the use of evidence from Mangione’s backpack, prosecutors would be barred from showing the jury the purported murder weapon, writings allegedly outlining his escape route, a fake driver’s license, and thousands of dollars in cash.
Prosecutors would still have available surveillance footage of Thompson’s shooting death, as well as fingerprint and DNA evidence and a phone retrieved by police.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett — who is overseeing Mangione’s federal stalking case — reached a ruling in January allowing the use of the same evidence during Mangione’s federal trial, which is scheduled to begin in January 2027. In that case, Judge Garnett decided that the evidence in the backpack would have inevitably been discovered by law enforcement.
However, defense lawyers have argued that the search of the backpack without a warrant violated Mangione’s rights, and have repeatedly urged Judge Carro to block prosecutors from using the evidence.
“At the hearing, Altoona law enforcement officers repeatedly attempted to justify their warrantless search of Mr. Mangione’s backpack … instead, all these officers demonstrated was an utter disregard for a defendant’s constitutional rights and a shocking ignorance of basic search and seizure caselaw,” Mangione’s attorneys wrote in a state court filing.
Lawyers from the Manhattan district attorney’s office pushed back on those claims, arguing the officers acted “in deliberate and painstaking fashion” when they searched the backpack.
“At every step, the Altoona officers responded to this unexpected and alarming situation reasonably,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote in a court filing, adding that officers later obtained a warrant for the bag “establishing an independent source for recovering the backpack’s contents.”
Mangione pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges after he was arrested for allegedly gunning down Thompson, a husband and father of two, on a Midtown Manhattan street in December 2024.
As Mangione prepares for his upcoming trial in September, his supporters continue to fund part of his legal defense. Earlier this month, on Mangione’s 28th birthday, his legal defense fund surpassed $1.5 million.
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