NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Lawyers for accused assassin Luigi Mangione have continued to bolster their legal arguments to have the most serious charges against him thrown out — along with the potential death penalty.
The 27-year-old returns to court Friday morning for a status conference, where the judge could signal how she intends to rule on motions to throw out two of the four federal charges he faces and whether prosecutors can use damning evidence seized from his backpack after his arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.
Although oral arguments already took place, the defense has aggressively argued in subsequent filings that prosecutors have failed to allege an underlying “crime of violence” necessary for the top charge of murder through use of a firearm. That is the only charge Mangione faces that carries the potential death penalty.
ALVIN BRAGG’S ‘UNREALISTIC’ TIMELINE IN LUIGI MANGIONE CASE SETS UP SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP DOJ
Prosecutors countered in an opposition filing that the defense is relying on irrelevant precedent.
“Here, by contrast, no court has interpreted the ‘conduct that places [the victim] in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury’ element,” federal prosecutors wrote.
SEND US A TIP HERE
In order to charge Mangione with the federal charge of murder through use of a firearm, prosecutors need an underlying crime of violence. They have alleged that crime to be stalking. However, according to legal analysts, if stalking can be done without violence, even if it wasn’t in the case alleged, the charge could fall apart.
JUDGE REVEALS EARLIEST POTENTIAL START TIMES FOR LUIGI MANGIONE’S FEDERAL MURDER TRIAL
Mangione is accused of stalking UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson before shooting him in the back outside a New York City hotel on the morning of a planned business conference.
SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER
“It’s like a series of dominos — the only way that the federal government can get to a death penalty charge in their case is if the murder was committed during the course of a violent felony,” Joshua Ritter, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, previously told Fox News Digital. “And the reason that they need that is because they need what’s called a federal hook to get them federal jurisdiction.”
Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota, had come to the Big Apple to meet with Wall Street investors.
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
Surveillance cameras recorded the slaying. Video shows Thompson walking down the sidewalk outside the hotel when a man approaches from behind and opens fire.
Thompson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and collapsed to the ground. The gunman fled and was later spotted making his way uptown on a bicycle. There was at least one eyewitness, who appeared to be unharmed.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB
Police arrested Mangione five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where customers and staff said they recognized him from a wanted poster released in connection with Thompson’s murder.
Mangione’s defense has a separate motion pending that would have evidence taken from his backpack during his arrest thrown out.
Police said they found the suspected murder weapon and handwritten notes that were critical of the health insurance industry and may indicate Mangione’s alleged planning and a motive.
Judge Margaret Garnett has not yet ruled on either motion and is expected to address the next steps in the case at Friday’s hearing.
Jury selection is scheduled for Sept. 8, with a trial to follow in either October or January, depending on how she rules on the top charges.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Separately, Manhattan prosecutors have requested a July 1 start date for Mangione’s state trial, which his lawyers have objected to as “unrealistic.”
In a letter to New York Judge Gregory Carro Wednesday, Assistant Manhattan DA Joel Seidemann wrote that the state has an interest, protected by federal law, in taking Mangione to trial first.
Read the full article here