A three-week hearing on accused murderer Luigi Mangione’s case concluded on Thursday, leaving a Manhattan judge to weigh what evidence can be used against him at trial.
Judge Gregory Carro said he’ll issue a ruling on May 18, but warned “that could change.” He has not yet set a trial date in the high-profile case.
The move follows days of suppression hearings in a packed Manhattan courtroom, where prosecutors called nearly 20 law enforcement witnesses to attest to the evidence they gathered linking Mangione to the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Defense attorneys for Mangione argue that police officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, did not read Mangione his Miranda rights and did not have a proper warrant when they interrogated him and searched his backpack at a McDonald's last December.
Speaking outside the courthouse Thursday, Mangione’s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo described the proceedings as a “mini-trial.” Suppression hearings “ usually take a half a day, maybe a day,” she said.
The hearings gave the public a first look at many colorful details in the case. Those included the 911 call from a McDonald’s manager alerting police to Mangione’s whereabouts, and a series of hand-drawn maps and to-do lists police say they recovered during his arrest.
The lists included notes like: “Keep momentum. FBI slower overnight," and “pluck eyebrows.”
Police also say they found a handgun, loaded magazine, and silencer in Mangione’s bag that fit the profile of the weapon used to shoot Thompson outside the Midtown Hilton last year.
Defense attorneys argue all that evidence needs to be suppressed as the product of an illegal search. Legal experts interviewed by Gothamist say while the defense has a credible argument, getting the evidence tossed will be an uphill battle. The vast majority of suppression motions are denied.
