Monday’s court session was delayed after Mangione became trapped in an elevator at the courthouse.
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione’s federal trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been pushed back from the fall to January, a judge announced Monday during a hearing that began behind schedule after Mangione was stuck in a courthouse elevator.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said the delay would give Mangione’s defense team time to concentrate on his state murder trial, which is set to start Sept. 8.
In the federal case, jury selection is now slated to begin Jan. 5 rather than Oct. 13, with opening statements and witness testimony scheduled for Jan. 25 instead of Nov. 4, Garnett said during the Manhattan hearing.
Garnett also said the questionnaire prospective jurors must complete will not be made public until after the jury pool is selected. Allowing the form to circulate online for months ahead of jury selection “would only make what promises to be a difficult task more difficult,” she said.
Dressed in a beige jail uniform, Mangione appeared slightly amused as two deputy U.S. Marshals escorted him into the courtroom roughly 20 minutes after the proceeding had been scheduled to begin. He briefly looked toward the gallery, where around two dozen supporters were seated.
“Mangione was late due to elevator problems,” the court said in a statement.
The elevator delay marked the second recent complication involving Mangione’s arrival for a court appearance.
A June 16 hearing in the state case was delayed a day after prosecutors failed to inform his jail that he was needed in court.
Garnett said she had hoped “with perhaps undue optimism” to hold the federal trial in the fall but that “we can no longer wait to see what happens” in the state case.
“In my view, it’s simply impossible to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully occupied by conducting the state trial,” Garnett said.
Mangione’s attorneys declined to comment to reporters afterward.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. He could spend his life in prison if convicted in either case.
The 28-year-old Ivy League graduate appeared energetic and engaged during Monday’s brief hearing. He watched intently at times, knitting his fingers and resting his chin on them.
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He spoke animatedly with his attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, before the proceeding began, gesturing with his hands as he sat between them at the defense table.
Mangione’s federal charges allege that he traveled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Thompson. He’s accused of using a cellphone, the internet and interstate highways, among other means, while planning and carrying out the attack, as well as staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers.
At a hearing in the state case in February, Mangione spoke out against the prospect of two trials, telling the judge: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”
Mangione’s attorneys had argued that back-to-back trials on a compressed timeline would violate his constitutional rights.
Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles west of Manhattan.
In January, Garnett took the death penalty off the table but ruled that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.
They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to “wack” an insurance executive.
Earlier this month, Mangione’s attorneys said they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case, but reversed course a day later. The defense, involving claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing, isn’t allowed in federal court.
Mangione has become a cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry.
An online fundraiser for his legal defense fund has raised more than $1.5 million and his court appearances have attracted a cadre of supporters, some of whom have worn “FREE LUIGI” T-shirts and green clothing — the color worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi.
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