Prosecutors say any possible federal resolution must not interfere with New York’s homicide case as the state trial approaches
New York City prosecutor Joel Seidemann is making sure Luigi Mangione’s upcoming New York murder trial will move forward before his federal case. This comes after a judge recently delayed the federal trials to avoid having both high-profile prosecutions overlap.
According to a newly unsealed letter filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Mangione’s state murder trial conclusively remains scheduled to begin September 8, 2026, while his federal trial has now been pushed to January 2027. Jury selection in the federal case is set to begin January 5, with opening statements expected January 25. New York prosecutors will get the first opportunity to present their case to a jury.
In the filing, prosecutors explained that New York has what’s known as “primary jurisdiction” because state police arrested Mangione first. In simple terms, that means the state gets to prosecute him before the federal government, which has been a point of contention during the entire prosecution.
Credit: NYCourts.gov
The letter also appears to push back on recent media speculation that Mangione could try to resolve the federal case through a guilty plea before standing trial in state court. Prosecutors wrote that if a federal plea deal would interfere with the New York prosecution, they could ask the federal judge to consider that before accepting any agreement. They said any resolution should reflect the seriousness of the allegations: the loss of life, the impact on the victim’s family and the state’s interest in prosecuting the homicide case.
During a June 29 federal court hearing, defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo confirmed that the state trial is expected to start September 8 and said she had been told there would be no adjournments. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said it would be unrealistic to expect Mangione’s attorneys to prepare for two major trials at the same time, so she postponed the federal case.
She also laid out a detailed pretrial schedule. About 800 prospective jurors are expected to complete written questionnaires in December before attorneys begin in-person jury selection in January.
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Mangione is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December 2024. He faces separate state and federal prosecutions stemming from the murder and has pleaded not guilty,