Luigi Mangione lawyer says Pennsylvania search, arrest were illegal
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione’s lawyer claimed that police in Pennsylvania illegally arrested and searched him in December when he was wanted for the New York murder of UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson.
Police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, failed to read Mangione his rights against self-incrimination, as required by the U.S. Constitution, when they arrested him on Dec. 9, five days after Thompson was shot on a Manhattan sidewalk, according to the filing. Altoona police charged Mangione with carrying false documents and a possessing a gun without a license.
U.S. and New York authorities later filed separate murder charges against Mangione, 26. He has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases. Federal prosecutors may pursue the death penalty, while the New York case could lead to life in prison if he is convicted.
The filing provides new details about the day of Mangione’s arrest and what evidence police recovered.
The Pennsylvania request to supress any statements made by Mangione and evidence collected during the search, if granted, could potentially weaken the New York murder cases, by limiting some evidence prosecutors could use at trial.
The Pennsylvania and the federal cases will take a back seat while the New York state prosecution proceeds.
Still, defense attorney Thomas Dickey claimed in a filing in Blair County, Pennsylvania, that police acted illegally when they approached Mangione in the back of a McDonald’s amid a national manhunt. Two officers gave him a “specious and unreasonable reason” for approaching him, saying he looked suspicious and overstayed his welcome as a patron, Dickey wrote.
Police never said he was free to go or said why he was being detained, while asking questions without reading his rights, Dickey said. If Mangione wanted to leave, he would have had to pass as many as 10 officers who entered the restaurant. Police questioned him for 15 minutes before saying he was “officially under a police investigation” and asked his name, the filing said. He was then read his rights and asked if he wanted to speak to police.
Mangione then “shook his head no,” and an officer told him “you are not in custody,” Dickey wrote. “This statement was materially false, inaccurate and contrary to law. It is clear at this time that the defendant was in fact in custody.”
A few minutes later, police placed Mangione under arrest and searched his backpack. They found a 9-millimeter ghost gun with a silencer, a magazine with ammunition, a red notebook that authorities call a manifesto, U.S. and foreign currency, a Polaroid digital camera, and a bus ticket from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, according to the filing.
The prosecutor in Blair County didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A hearing in the Pennsylvania case for Feb. 24 was canceled.
At a court hearing in New York last week, Mangione attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said state prosecutors have failed to turn over enough evidence for her to adequately respond to both state and federal charges.
Friedman Agnifilo complained that she hasn’t seen a great deal of evidence, including a so-called “manifesto” which was referred to in an HBO documentary in which New York Police Department officials and even Mayor Eric Adams were interviewed on camera and discussed the case in detail.
Mangione has won the support of many Americans who are angered by the health insurance industry, particularly over the frequent denial of coverage for costly and necessary procedures. An online fundraising page created to help pay for Mangione’s defense has raised more than $632,000.