The person accused of fatally capturing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare has pleaded not responsible , whereas his lawyer complained that statements coming from New York’s mayor would make it robust to obtain a good trial.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was shackled and seated in a Manhattan court docket when he leaned over to a microphone to enter his plea.
The Manhattan district lawyer formally charged him final week with a number of counts of homicide, together with homicide as an act of terrorism, in a state case that may run parallel to
His preliminary look in New York’s state trial court docket was pre-empted by federal prosecutors bringing their very own costs over the capturing.
The federal costs might carry the potential for the demise penalty, whereas the utmost sentence for the state costs is life in jail with out parole.
Prosecutors have stated the 2 instances will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state costs anticipated to go to trial first.
Considered one of Mangione’s attorneys informed a choose that authorities officers, together with New York Mayor Eric Adams, have turned Mangione right into a political pawn, robbing him of his rights as a defendant and tainting the jury pool.
“I’m very involved about my shopper’s proper to a good trial,” stated Karen Friedman Agnifilo.
Town’s mayor and prime police official stood amongst a throng of closely armed officers final Thursday when Mangione was flown to a Manhattan heliport and slowly escorted up a pier after being extradited from Pennsylvania.
“I needed to look him within the eye and say you carried out this terroristic act in my metropolis — the town that the individuals of New York love,” the mayor informed an area TV station.
Friedman Agnifilo has accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting authorized theories, calling their method complicated and extremely uncommon.
“He’s being handled like a human ping-pong ball between warring jurisdictions right here,” she stated Monday.
State trial court docket Decide Gregory Carro responded that he has little management over what occurs exterior the courtroom, however stated he can assure that Mangione will obtain a good trial.