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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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A federal judge said on Monday that she will hold a hearing on the procedures used by Pennsylvania police to seize personal property at the time of Luigi Mangione’s arrest as the defense seeks to exclude key evidence.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she decided to hold the hearing “on reflection, and considering both the arguments made by counsel at the January 9 Conference and the seriousness of the charges the Defendant is facing.”
On Friday, Garnett denied the defense’s request for an evidentiary hearing, but indicated she might change her mind, NBC News reported.
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The defense asked the court to bar prosecutors from using items found in a backpack seized during Mangione’s arrest, including a gun that police said matched the one used to kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as well as a notebook. The defense alleged that the search was illegal because police had not yet obtained a warrant.
Why It Matters
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Thompson in December 2024 in New York City.
The 27-year-old, who was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the shooting, is facing charges at the federal and state level in New York and Pennsylvania. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The shooting and subsequent criminal proceedings continue to make headlines and capture public attention. Mangione has gained support from some who view his alleged actions as a stand against the health insurance industry. A GiveSendGo fund for his legal defense has collected over $1.3 million.
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What To Know
Garnett ordered prosecutors to call an officer with the Altoona Police Department “with sufficient authority and experience” to testify at the hearing. The judge said the officer will testify about the 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.
Garnett said the officer does not have to have any involvement in Mangione’s arrest, since the questioning will focus on department procedures. The judge said the hearing is expected to be brief.
The judge also asked for a copy of the affidavit in support of the federal search warrant.
Prosecutors wrote in a letter filed on Thursday that officers searched the contents of the notebook inside the backpack “pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant that expressly covered, among other things, handwritten materials, including notebook entries, contained within the defendant’s backpack.”
Mangione’s attorneys are also seeking to exclude evidence from the backpack in his New York state trial. A three-week pretrial hearing on the matter concluded last month. The judge has yet to issue a ruling on the request.
What People Are Saying
Jacob Kaplan, attorney representing Luigi Mangione, at a hearing on Friday: "The purpose of the hearing would be to have actual testimony. We don't have to guess. We don't have to speculate. We would have actual testimony from people in the Altoona Police Department as to what their general understanding is about these guidelines and whether or not these guidelines would apply in this sort of situation. And to the extent that there was a state court hearing in which this came up, it's not the same as the Court conducting its own hearing and viewing actual witnesses.”
U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dominic A. Gentile Jun Xiang Alexandra S. Messiter and Thomas John Wright, in a letter filed Thursday: “To the extent that the defendant now seeks to challenge the validity of the Government’s warrant—an argument the defendant similarly did not make in either his moving or reply papers— that argument would also fail on the merits because the warrant, which disclosed the initial search of the defendant’s backpack by the Altoona Police Department, was supported by ample probable cause.”
What Happens Next
Garnett ordered prosecutors to confer with the defense and the witness and provide the court with available dates and times in the next two weeks.
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