Judges delay Luigi Mangione’s state and federal trials

By Kara Scannell, Nicki Brown, CNN

(CNN) — The New York state judge overseeing Luigi Mangione’s murder case on Wednesday delayed the start of his trial, hours after a US district judge did the same for the parallel prosecution playing out in federal court – reintroducing a scheduling conflict between the two cases.

Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, faces dual prosecutions in state and federal court. His defense attorneys have expressed concerns about preparing for two trials simultaneously.

The state trial was initially scheduled to begin on June 8, around the time prospective jurors would be filling out questionnaires for the federal trial, which was slated to begin in the fall.

On Wednesday morning, US District Judge Margaret Garnett pushed back the federal jury selection process to early September to avoid prospective jurors being influenced by the ongoing state trial. Potential jurors would be responding to questionnaires while “there’s a massive press pool and a lot of attention on the state trial which is ongoing just two blocks from here,” she said.

Hours later, New York State Judge Gregory Carro issued a two-paragraph order saying the state trial would now start on September 8 – a delay that sets up the same conflict the federal judge attempted to resolve earlier in the day.

The cases stem from the December 2024 killing of Thompson, who was shot on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk outside a hotel where he 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.

Mangione pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases: two counts of stalking in the federal case, and second-degree murder and eight other counts in the state case. If convicted of the most serious charges, Mangione could face up to life in prison.

Mangione’s defense attorneys had asked Garnett to delay the federal trial until January 2027, saying they were worried about preparing for the trial while simultaneously defending their client in state court.

“Realistically, defense counsel cannot be defending Mr. Mangione in state court on second-degree murder charges that carry a maximum sentence of twenty-five years to life while, at the same time, also reviewing 800 questionnaires for a federal case that carries a maximum life sentence,” defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote in a March letter to Garnett.

At a hearing Wednesday morning, Garnett declined to move the federal trial to next year, instead slightly modifying the dates: She pushed the start of jury selection to October 5 – four weeks after it had been initially scheduled and roughly a month after Mangione’s state trial is now set to begin. Opening statements in the federal case are now scheduled for October 26 or November 2, Garnett said.

“I am skeptical of moving the trial wholesale into 2027 when the state trial has not been adjourned, and I think it’s a little bit of the tail wagging the dog,” she said. “I don’t have any control over the state’s schedule.”

Prosecutor Dominic Gentile, who argued against a delay, said Wednesday the public has a right to a speedy trial.

“Your Honor need only look out the window to see the people that follow this defendant and believe that what he did was right,” he said at the hearing, referencing those who support Mangione based on their own anger and resentment toward the American health care system.

“This case is ready to move forward,” he added.

Gentile suggested the defense was seeking a delay in part because the law firm represents another high-profile client – Harvey Weinstein, who faces a retrial for an alleged sex crime in New York state court later this month.

The defense, however, said that played no role in their decision to ask for the delay.

“That is not a factor whatsoever,” Friedman Agnifilo told the judge.

Garnett brushed the matter aside, saying other cases are not her concern.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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