SDNY Judge Margaret Garnett pushed Luigi Mangione’s federal trial back to January 2027 on June 29, according to Inner City Press, which was present in the courtroom. Jury selection in the federal case is now set to begin January 5, with opening statements scheduled for January 25.
Mangione’s state murder trial, prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is set to begin jury selection on September 8 at 100 Centre Street, according to the New York Post. The federal case had originally been scheduled for October, with prospective jurors set to start filling out questionnaires September 11. That would have overlapped with the state trial. Judge Garnett had expressed openness to pushing the federal case into winter, the Post reported.
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Both stem from the December 2024 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan, according to ABC7. He faces life in prison in each proceeding.
In the federal case, Mangione is no longer charged with a death-penalty eligible offense. Judge Garnett dismissed those charges after the Justice Department announced on April 1 that it would seek the death penalty, leaving him facing what the New York Post described as a “stalking” charge related to Thompson. He is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to the Post.
Monday’s hearing at 500 Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and focused on proposed juror questionnaires and scheduling matters. Reports from ABC News, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, said federal prosecutors and Mangione’s defense attorneys had discussed a possible guilty plea before the hearing, ABC7 reported. The defense denied those reports.
“This information attributed to ‘anonymous sources’ is part of a troubling, deliberate pattern by prosecutors and law enforcement to prejudice Luigi, manipulate public opinion, and violate his constitutional right to a fair trial and impartial jury,” lead defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said in a statement, per ABC7. “Every defendant in America is presumed innocent until proven guilty, including Luigi, who, unlike any other defendant, has to fight the same charges twice,” she added.
Jury questionnaires have been a contested front in the federal case. On May 11, the US Attorney’s Office filed opposition to some of the defense’s proposed jury selection questions, according to Inner City Press. In a May 26 letter to Judge Garnett, Mangione’s lawyers pushed back, writing that “the Government seems to have forgotten that the former Attorney General violated this Court’s local rule concerning prejudicial pre-trial publicity” and calling resolution of that issue “critical,” Inner City Press reported.
Earlier pretrial developments in the state case also shaped the federal schedule. Mangione’s lawyers raised an extreme emotional disturbance defense in state court before withdrawing it, Inner City Press reported. NYS Justice Gregory Carro, who is presiding over the state case, separately suppressed evidence from the search at the Pennsylvania McDonald’s where Mangione was arrested and suppressed post-detention questioning beyond pedigree and safety-related exchanges, according to Inner City Press.
Supporters have continued to gather outside the courthouse during hearings, ABC7 reported.
