Judge bars federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors can't seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge ruled Friday, foiling the Trump administration's bid to see him executed for what it called a ''premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.''

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed a federal murder charge that had enabled prosecutors to seek capital punishment, finding that it was technically flawed. She wrote that she did so to ''foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury" as it weighs whether to convict Mangione.

Garnett also dismissed a gun charge but left in place stalking charges that carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. In order to seek the death penalty, prosecutors needed to show that Mangione killed Thompson while committing another "crime of violence." Stalking doesn't fit that definition, Garnett wrote in her opinion, citing case law and legal precedents.

In a win for prosecutors, Garnett ruled that prosecutors can use evidence collected from his backpack during his arrest, including a 9 mm handgun and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to ''wack'' an insurance executive. Mangione's lawyers had sought to exclude those items, arguing the search was illegal because police hadn't yet obtained a warrant.

The rulings could be subject to appeal. Garnett gave prosecutors 30 days to inform her of any plans to appeal her death penalty decision. A message seeking comment was left for a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, which is prosecuting the federal case.

Garnett acknowledged that the decision ''may strike the average person — and indeed many lawyers and judges — as tortured and strange, and the result may seem contrary to our intuitions about the criminal law." But, she said, it reflected her "committed effort to faithfully apply the dictates of the Supreme Court to the charges in this case. The law must the Court's only concern.''

Mangione, 27, appeared relaxed as he sat with his lawyers at a brief, previously scheduled hearing about an hour after Garnett issued her written ruling. Prosecutors retained their right to appeal the decision but said they were ready to proceed to trial.

Jury selection in the federal case is scheduled to begin Sept. 8, followed by opening statements and testimony beginning on Oct. 13. The state trial's date hasn't been set yet. On Wednesday, the Manhattan district attorney's office sent a letter urging the judge in that case to schedule a July 1 trial date.

Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group's annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say ''delay,'' ''deny'' and ''depose'' were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

Following through on Trump's campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered Manhattan federal prosecutors last April to seek the death penalty against Mangione.

It was the first time the Justice Department was seeking to bring the death penalty in President Donald Trump's second term. He returned to office a year ago with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

In addition to seeking to have the death penalty thrown out on the grounds Garnett cited, Mangione's lawyers argued that Bondi's announcement flouted long-established Justice Department protocols and showed the decision was ''based on politics, not merit.''

They said her remarks, which were followed by posts to her Instagram account and a TV appearance, ''indelibly prejudiced'' the grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks later.

Prosecutors urged Garnett to keep the death penalty on the table, arguing that the charges allowing for such punishment were legally sound and that Bondi's remarks weren't prejudicial, as ''pretrial publicity, even when intense, is not itself a constitutional defect.''

Rather than dismissing the case outright or barring the government from seeking the death penalty, prosecutors argued, the defense's concerns can best be alleviated by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case and ensuring Mangione's rights are respected at trial.