Luigi Mangione, 27, is set for hearings starting Monday on his bid to block the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from showing or telling jurors about items seized during his arrest at a yet-unscheduled state murder trial .
Those items include a 9mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing and a notebook in which they say he described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.
After getting state terrorism charges thrown out in September, Mangione's lawyers are now zeroing in on what they say was unconstitutional conduct that tainted his arrest and threatens his right to a fair trial.
They contend that the gun and other items should be excluded because police lacked a warrant to search the backpack in which they were found. They also want to suppress some of his statements to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers started asking questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Eliminating the gun and notebook would be critical wins for Mangione’s defense and a major setback for prosecutors, depriving them a possible murder weapon and evidence they say points to motive.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has quoted extensively from Mangione’s handwritten diary in court filings including his praise for Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
In it, prosecutors say, Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and said killing an industry executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming.”
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases, but this week’s hearings pertain only to the state case. The next hearing in the federal case is scheduled for Jan. 9.
