1 of 5 | Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Supreme Court in December for a suppression hearing in the the murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Mangione is in federal court Friday for a hearing. File Pool Photo by Seth Wenig/UPI | License Photo
Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024, was back in federal court Friday for a hearing about his backpack that police seized the day he was arrested.
Mangione’s backpack and the items in it have been subjects of state and federal hearings, as his attorneys have been trying to get the evidence excluded from trial. They said he wasn’t read his Miranda rights soon enough and police in Altoona, Pa., searched the backpack with no warrant when he was arrested at a McDonald’s. His lawyers are also trying to get the death penalty removed from the federal case against him.
Judge Margaret Garnett said jury selection begins Sept. 8, and opening statements begin Oct. 13 if it’s not a capital case. If the death penalty is possible, opening statements will begin Jan. 11, 2027. Garnett is considering the death penalty arguments.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty in state and federal courts.
Friday’s hearing will decide if Mangione’s backpack was legally searched during his December 2024 arrest.
Garnett said the hearing will be “about the established or standardized procedures in use by the Department in December 2024 for securing, safeguarding, and, if applicable, inventorying the personal property of a person arrested in a public place.”
Police allegedly found a 3D-printed handgun, loaded magazine, notebook, map and a “survival kit.”
Police officers have testified that it’s standard procedure to take similar property from a suspect during an arrest and that a preliminary search of a backpack is also normal.
