Luigi Mangione loudly protested in court after a New York judge scheduled his state murder trial for June 8 — a date that precedes a separate federal trial already set for the fall.
On Friday, Feb. 6, Judge Gregory Carro placed the state prosecution for the Dec. 4, 2024, shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the calendar for June 8, according to reports from CBS News, ABC News and NBC News. The move came after a U.S. district judge set Mangione's federal trial for the fall, with jury selection slated for September and trial proceedings planned for October.
Defense lawyers had urged the state court to postpone the June date to avoid overlapping prosecutions. "Luigi Mangione is being put in a terrible position with two different prosecutions," attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo told the court, per NBC. "It is not his position to try this case in the middle of a federal case which is already set for trial."
After the scheduling order, Mangione reportedly shouted in court: "One plus one is two. Double jeopardy, by any common sense definition."
Mangione faces both state and federal charges in connection with the Midtown Manhattan shooting that killed Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024; he has pleaded not guilty. Authorities apprehended Mangione five days after the slaying during a widely publicized manhunt — he was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The federal schedule followed U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett's earlier ruling that dismissed certain federal murder-related charges, a decision that the court said rendered Mangione ineligible for the death penalty. State prosecutors, however, continue to pursue a murder charge.
The conflict between the two timetables — a state trial in June and a federal trial in the fall — is the central issue defense counsel argue could unfairly complicate Mangione's ability to defend himself. The state court's scheduling decision keeps both tracks on potentially overlapping timelines as pretrial motions and discovery proceed.
What Happens Next: Both courts will continue pretrial proceedings, motions and discovery. Defense and prosecution teams are likely to press their respective arguments about scheduling, jurisdiction and fairness as the June and fall dates approach.
