Judge bars federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against
Luigi Mangione
[January 31, 2026]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty against
Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a
federal 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.”
Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed a federal murder charge that had
enabled prosecutors to seek capital punishment, finding it 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. 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 they can use evidence collected
from his backpack during his arrest, including a 9mm 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.
During a hearing Friday, Garnett gave prosecutors 30 days to update her
on whether they'll appeal her death penalty decision. A spokesperson for
the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, which is prosecuting the
federal case, declined to comment.
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
be the Court’s only concern.”
Mangione, 27, appeared relaxed as he sat with his lawyers during the
scheduled hearing, which took place about an hour after Garnett issued
her written ruling. Prosecutors retained their right to appeal but said
they were ready to proceed to trial.
Outside court afterward, Mangione attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said
her client and his defense team were relieved by the “incredible
decision.”
Jury selection in the federal case is set for Sept. 8, followed by
opening statements and testimony on Oct. 13. The state trial's date
hasn’t been set. On Wednesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office
urged the judge in that case to schedule a July 1 trial date.
“That case is none of my concern,” Garnett said, adding that she would
proceed as if the federal case is the only case unless she hears
formally from parties involved in the state case. She also said the
federal case will be paused if the government appeals her death penalty
ruling.
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Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence
hearing, Thursday , Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool
Photo via AP, File)
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 by critics 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 sought 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.
Garnett, a Biden appointee and former Manhattan federal prosecutor,
ruled after hearing oral arguments earlier this month.
Besides seeking to have the death penalty rejected on the grounds
Garnett cited, Mangione’s lawyers argued that Bondi’s announcement
flouted long-established Justice Department protocols and was “based on
politics, not merit.”
They said her remarks, followed by posts to her Instagram account and a
TV appearance, “indelibly prejudiced” the grand jury process resulting
in his indictment weeks later.
Prosecutors urged Garnett to keep the death penalty on the table,
arguing that the charges were legally sound and Bondi’s remarks weren’t
prejudicial, as “pretrial publicity, even when intense, is not itself a
constitutional defect.”
Prosecutors argued that careful questioning of prospective jurors would
alleviate the defense’s concerns about their knowledge of the case and
ensure Mangione’s rights are respected at trial.
“What the defendant recasts as a constitutional crisis is merely a
repackaging of arguments” rejected in previous cases, prosecutors said.
“None warrants dismissal of the indictment or categorical preclusion of
a congressionally authorized punishment.”
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