The lawyers for accused killer Luigi Mangione filed to have the possibility of the death penalty removed.
According to NBC News, on Friday, Mangione’s attorneys submitted a 114-page motion asking federal prosecutors to be prohibited from pursuing the death penalty and to have the charges against their client dismissed.
The defense team argues in the documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that the decision to seek the death penalty was “solely political.”
The attorneys stated in the document, “Due to issues involving United Health Care, broader concerns about health coverage, the publicity generated by leaks from the NYPD, an unconstitutional perp walk, repeated press conferences by the New York City Mayor and Police Commissioner, and the Mangione case’s significant international attention.”
They further claimed, “This situation provided the new administration with a chance to express its disapproval of the previous administration and to publicly promote its fresh and assertive death penalty stance through one of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent history.”
The attorneys additionally argue that the death penalty is being “randomly imposed in violation” of the Fifth and Eighth Amendments, and that the federal Death Penalty Act “is devoid of constitutionally required procedures sanctioned by Congress.”
Previously reported by CrimeOnline, Mangione was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days following the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan, New York, on December 4.
Thompson was attending his company’s annual investor meeting when he was killed.
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On the federal level, Mangione is charged in New York with murder through the use of a firearm, stalking, and a firearms offense. On the state level, he faces firearm charges in Pennsylvania.
In New York, he was facing state charges of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, and criminal possession of a weapon.
A New York state judge dismissed Mangione’s state terrorism charges earlier this week, keeping the second-degree murder charge.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to the remaining New York charges, federal charges, and Pennsylvania state charges, according to NBC News.
October 31 is the deadline for federal prosecutors to respond to the removal of the death penalty. On December 5, Mangione is scheduled for a court appearance in his federal case.
Mangione remains jailed without bond.
[Feature Photo: Luigi Mangione is escorted into Manhattan Criminal court for his arraignment on state murder and terror charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)]
