The young Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty today to the eleven charges against him in a state court in Manhattan (New York), which include murder and terrorism, for the crime against the executive director (CEO) of UnitedHealthcare insurer, Brian Thompson, on December 4.
Mangione’s defense team, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, assured the presiding judge Gregory Carro that they are concerned that their client, “a young boy,” will not have “a fair trial” and that he is being treated until the moment as “a human ping-pong ball” and as “a political waste” that the authorities are “taking advantage of.”
Judge Carro responded to them during this formal session for the reading of charges that he will strive to “select a balanced jury,” but that he has no “control of what happens behind the doors of the court,” alluding to the tremendous media impact of the case.
The suspect of murdering Thompson – who arrived handcuffed, but looking good and dressed in a wine-colored sweater from which the collars of a white shirt, beige chinos and orange sneakers protruded – only intervened during this hearing, which lasted about 20 minutes, to plead “not guilty.”
During the last five minutes of the hearing, his lawyers showed him several documents, including photographs, and he received instructions without clarifying, shaking his head or contradicting them at any time. Immediately afterwards, a dozen New York police officers guarded him in handcuffs as he left the room.
Mangione is also charged federally in New York with charges of terrorism, murder, harassment and firearms offenses, in addition to having another open case in the state of Pennsylvania, where he was arrested after a five-day escape with cinematographic overtones.
Although New York does not apply the death penalty, the federal government does, hence the possibility of receiving the death penalty; while his state charges in New York would carry a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Prosecutor’s Office has not yet indicated whether they will seek the death penalty, and the decision would ultimately have to be approved by the United States Attorney General.
These processes run in parallel and it is expected that the state case will go to trial before the federal one, while the different authorities and courts ensure that they are working in coordination to advance them.
Political use of the case
On the other hand, in today’s session, Karen Friedman Agnifilo also criticized the “use” of her client’s case even by political authorities such as the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, who was present at the arrival of Mangione flanked by agents at Manhattan court on Thursday.
“It was the biggest walk (guarded by agents) I have ever seen in my entire career. What was the mayor of New York doing there? These walks are unconstitutional,” stated the lawyer.
The hearing, for which the time was not previously made public, once again had a great following by the press, civil society and members of the court itself who filled the approximately one hundred seats in the room.
The narrative on social networks, with tens of thousands of people considering the young man a kind of “hero” against the insurance industry, and his physical attractiveness, led to the vast majority of citizens who decided to attend the session today being women. below thirty.
The interest aroused by the case even led many of those present to try to surreptitiously use their cell phones to capture just the appearance of the room before Mangione’s arrival, so the six NYPD officers In court they were on the verge of expelling several attendees from the courtroom.
Outside the court, about fifty people carried banners in favor of Mangione and messages against the American health insurance industry, which they displayed behind the dozens of television cameras with live broadcasts at the doors of the court.
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