Luigi Mangione’s state murder trial set for June, judge rules

By Kara Scannell, Nicki Brown, CNN

New York (CNN) — Luigi Mangione’s trial on state charges for the alleged murder of a healthcare chief executive is scheduled to begin in June, three months before he is set to face federal charges.

Judge Gregory Carro, who is overseeing Mangione’s state murder case, accelerated the timeline at a hearing Friday. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office argued they had a deal with federal prosecutors to go to trial first, which was upended last week when the federal judge set the trial date for September 8.

“It appears that the federal government has reneged on their agreement to allow the state – who has done most of the work in this case – to go first,” Carro said at the hearing.

The decision to start the state trial June 8 dramatically changed the timeline for the defense, prompting Mangione, 27, to have an outburst as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

“Same trial twice. One plus one equals two. Double jeopardy by any common sense definition,” he said.

Double jeopardy is a legal principle that prohibits defendants from being tried for the same crime twice.

Mangione is facing both state and federal charges for allegedly killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. He has pleaded not guilty.

The shooting happened on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk outside a hotel where Thompson, 50, was set to attend an annual investors conference. Mangione’s arrest five days later at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, ended a multi-state manhunt.

The case put a spotlight on Americans’ frustrations with the US healthcare system, with Mangione seeing a massive outpouring of support on social media and at the courthouse.

‘It’s not that complex,’ judge says

Carro said the cases have become simpler after he dismissed the top two charges in the state case last fall and District Judge Margaret Garnett threw out the death penalty in the federal case.

“It’s not that complex,” Carro said, agreeing with prosecutors.

During the tense hearing Friday, Mangione’s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said the defense team would not be ready to go to trial in four months. The judge has still not ruled on whether key evidence found in Mangione’s backpack will be admitted at trial.

“Mr. Mangione is being put in an untenable situation because this is a tug of war between two different prosecution offices,” Friedman Agnifilo said.

State prosecutors have been adamant their trial start first because if it followed the federal trial, their case could be moot on double-jeopardy grounds.

“Counsel is seeking to jeopardy us out of the case,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said at the hearing.

He said Thompson’s 78-year-old mother wanted the state case to go first, adding that was “something certainly to be considered.”

“Mr. Seidemann wants this case to go forward because he doesn’t want the potential of his case being double-jeopardied out because he did all the work on this case,” Friedman Agnifilo said.

Carro cut off Friedman Agnifilo several times during the hearing as she argued the federal judge was aware of the issues when she set the trial date.

“It’s obvious that Judge Garnett also wants that case, the federal case, to go first,” Carro said. “I don’t need to hear any more about it.”

CNN has reached out to the US Attorney’s Office for comment.

If the federal trial date is pushed back – which could happen if prosecutors appeal the judge’s ruling that dropped the death penalty – the state trial will then begin on September 8, Carro said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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