Luigi Mangione erupted in court during a last-minute hearing called by a judge to move his trial to an earlier date.
“It’s the same trial. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy—by any common-sense definition,” Mangione, 27, blurted out at the end of the Friday hearing in Manhattan, where Judge Gregory Carro announced that his state trial would be tentatively set for June 8.
This is the first courtroom outburst reported from Mangione since his court appearances began following his December 2024 arrest.
Mangione, who has been accused of killing former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, faces several state charges in New York, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and multiple weapons possession charges.
The former Ivy League student also faces federal charges, two of which—murder and a related firearm offense—were dismissed by Judge Margaret Garnett, who presides over the federal case, allowing Mangione to avoid a possible death penalty.
The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty to both federal and state charges, each of which carries the possibility of life in prison.
At Friday’s hearing, Mangione’s high-profile defense attorneys argued that they would not be ready for the June trial because they are preparing for the federal trial, with jury selection set to begin on September 8 and opening statements scheduled for October 13.
Defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo told the judge that Mangione was being “put in an untenable situation,” as he must prepare for two trials scheduled close together.
Mangione’s lawyers, echoing their client’s courtroom outburst, are pushing to have the federal trial go first to prevent the state from prosecuting him afterward under New York’s double jeopardy laws.
Carro, who conferred at length with prosecutors and defense attorneys at the bench before announcing his decision, said the federal government “has reneged on its agreement to let the state, which has done most of the work in this case, go first.”
In September, Carro dismissed a pair of terrorism-related murder charges against Mangione, ruling that they were “legally insufficient.”
Manhattan District Attorney prosecutor Joel Seidemann told the judge Friday that Thompson’s family, which includes his 78-year-old mother, wants the state trial to take place first.
Thompson was shot by a masked gunman on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for a UnitedHealth investor conference.
Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where law enforcement recovered several items from his backpack, including a handgun, a loaded magazine, and a red notebook—evidence prosecutors say clearly ties him to Thompson’s killing.
“Be ready,” Carro told Mangione’s lawyers on Friday, as he set the date for the trial.
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