**Video is previous coverage of Luigi Mangione pleading not guilty to charges in December 2024**
NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers representing Luigi Mangione requested on Saturday that a New York federal judge dismiss some criminal charges, including the sole count that could result in the death penalty, from a federal indictment related to the December murder of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive.
In documents submitted to Manhattan federal court, the attorneys argued that prosecutors should not be allowed to present at trial Mangione’s statements to law enforcement or his backpack, which contained a firearm and bullets.
They claimed Mangione was not informed of his rights prior to being interrogated by law enforcement officers, who apprehended him following the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for an investment meeting.
They added that officers did not obtain a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Mangione, 27, has entered a plea of not guilty to both state and federal charges in the December 4 shooting death of Brian Thompson, which occurred as Thompson arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s yearly investment conference.
The murder prompted a pursuit across multiple states after the alleged shooter fled the scene, cycling to Central Park and then taking a taxi to a bus terminal with routes to several nearby states.
Five days later, a tip from a McDonald’s located about 233 miles (375 kilometers) away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led to Mangione’s arrest by police. He has been detained without bail since the arrest.
Last month, lawyers for Mangione asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of public comments by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, Bondi directed prosecutors in New York to seek the death penalty, calling the killing of Thompson a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Murder cases are usually tried in state courts, but prosecutors have also charged Mangione under a federal law on murders committed with firearms as part of other “crimes of violence.” It’s the only charge for which Mangione could face the death penalty, since it’s not used in New York state.
The papers filed early Saturday morning argued that this charge should be dismissed because prosecutors have failed to identify the other offenses that would be required to convict him, saying that the alleged other crime — stalking — is not a crime of violence.
The assassination and its aftermath has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and online vitriol toward U.S. health insurers while rattling corporate executives concerned about security.
After the killing, investigators found the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
