Prosecutors Tell Judge Pam Bondi’s Remarks Shouldn’t Block Death-Penalty Case Against Luigi Mangione

Federal prosecutors urged a Manhattan judge on Friday to let the death-penalty prosecution of Luigi Mangione proceed, asking the court to reject the defense’s efforts to dismiss charges or bar capital punishment after public comments by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Mangione deserved execution.

In a 121-page filing, the U.S. attorney’s office also asked U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett to deny the defense’s bid to suppress evidence seized at the time of Mangione’s arrest, including a 9 mm handgun, a notebook in which investigators say Mangione described wanting to “wack” an insurance executive, and statements he made to police.

“Pretrial publicity, even when intense, is not itself a constitutional defect,”

Prosecutors cited Supreme Court and Second Circuit precedent to argue that public comments — including Bondi’s — do not automatically taint a grand jury or require dismissal. They said there is no evidence grand jurors were influenced and that the defense’s claims rest on conjecture rather than proof.

Regarding the contested evidence, prosecutors told the court officers were justified in searching Mangione’s backpack to ensure there were no dangerous items and that his statements to police were voluntary and made before he was formally placed in custody.

Rather than dismiss the indictment or categorically remove the government’s ability to seek the death penalty, the prosecution said the court can manage potential juror bias through careful voir dire and by protecting Mangione’s trial rights.

“What the defendant recasts as a constitutional crisis is merely a repackaging of arguments rejected in prior cases,” the filing said. “None warrants dismissal of the indictment or categorical preclusion of a congressionally authorized punishment.”

Case background

Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. He was arrested five days after the slaying while eating breakfast at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Brian Thompson, 50, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed on December 4, 2024, as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for the insurer’s investor conference. Surveillance footage showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say ammunition recovered from the scene bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” echoing language critics use to describe tactics by some insurers.

In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly announced she had directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, describing the slaying as a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination.” The defense argues Bondi’s statements, along with a highly publicized perp walk and other official actions, prejudiced Mangione and undermined his constitutional rights.

Former President Donald Trump also commented publicly, calling the shooting evidence that the suspect “looked like a pure assassin,” remarks the defense cites as additional pretrial publicity that could influence jurors.

Prosecutors counter that the remedy is careful juror screening and adherence to courtroom procedures, not dismissal of charges or a ban on seeking capital punishment.

Next steps

A state judge in September dismissed terrorism counts but left an intentional murder charge intact; Mangione returns to state court on December 1 as his attorneys press to exclude evidence seized at arrest. The federal case resumes January 9.