In a new court filing, his legal team argues federal prosecutors have « violated Mr Mangione’s constitutional and statutory rights » and the case for the death penalty has been « fatally prejudiced » after comments made by US President Donald Trump.
Lawyers for Luigi Mangione have called on a judge to block federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against him.
Mangione’s legal team says the 27-year-old’s case has been turned into a « Marvel movie » after a failed bid by the US Justice Department to indict him on terrorism charges over the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York on 4 December.
New York state judge Gregory Carro said there was no evidence that the killing, which took place as Mr Thompson walked into an investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, amounted to a terrorist act.
But Judge Carro upheld second-degree murder charges, which suggest there was malicious intent – but not that it was premeditated.
