NEW YORK — A judge ruled Monday that several of the belongings found in Luigi Mangione’s backpack when he was arrested in the killing of a health care executive will not be admissible as evidence in his trial on state murder charges later this year.
New York state Judge Gregory Carro ruled that a cellphone, a passport, a weapon magazine and a computer chip can’t be used in the upcoming trial. Those items were found in Mangione’s backpack before it was searched at a police station.
But in a major win for prosecutors, Carro ruled the items police retrieved from the backpack at the station — including the gun that ballistics linked to the crime scene and a notebook containing the writings that allegedly admitted to the shooting — could be admitted as evidence.
Mangione, who is accused of shooting United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appeared in court on Monday to hear the judge’s ruling. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal murder charges after Thompson was fatally shot in Manhattan in December 2024.
Mangione’s state trial is scheduled to begin this fall. He is charged with nine felony counts, including second-degree murder, and faces 25 years to life in prison.
Mangione’s defense team had argued that the items found in Mangione’s backpack, including a gun and a notebook that allegedly contained a missive, had been seized during an improper search when he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Local police searched the backpack both at a McDonald’s and then again at the police station after he was taken into custody. Carro said only the items retrieved from the backpack at the McDonald’s were the result of “an improper warrantless search.”
Altoona police had argued those items were discovered when the backpack was searched as part of a routine screening for explosive materials.
“The subsequent search at the station was valid,” Carro told the court.
Thompson’s killing captured nationwide attention and highlighted threats facing prominent business executives amid tensions over access to health care and wealth.
Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, has developed followers who sympathize with his alleged frustrations with the U.S. health care system. On Monday, more than a dozen Mangione supporters appeared at the courthouse wearing shirts that read, “Free Luigi” or “Hot Lives Matter,” an apparent reference to the defendant’s appearance.
The ruling Monday follows three weeks of testimony in December to consider Mangione’s lawyers’ arguments that police improperly searched and questioned Mangione at the McDonald’s.
His attorneys also argued that statements Mangione made to officers should be inadmissible because they were made before he was read his Miranda rights.
Prosecutors have denied that officers did anything improperly.
Carro said Monday that any statements Mangione made to police before 9:47 a.m. on the day of his arrest would not be admissible in the trial. According to court records, police had been interacting with Mangione for about 20 minutes before that time.
Joseph Detwiler, an Altoona police officer, testified in December that officers believed Mangione posed an exceptional risk to the public when they encountered him at the McDonald’s.
“As soon as he pulled his mask down, I knew there was a safety issue for us,” Detwiler testified.
Mangione also faces federal murder charges that could result in life in prison without parole.
Mangione initially faced additional federal charges. In January, the federal judge overseeing the case dismissed two charges that could have resulted in a death sentence.
Mangione’s federal trial is expected to begin early next year.
Razzan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.
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