NEW YORK (WABC) — Lawyers for Luigi Mangione are again seeking to have his New York state murder case dismissed, arguing in a new court filing that the prosecution violates the state’s double jeopardy laws.
Mangione pleaded guilty in federal court in August to stalking charges, admitting he traveled to New York with the intent to kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and shot him outside the Midtown Hilton.
According to the filing, Mangione’s attorneys are asking a New York state judge to dismiss the murder and weapons charges. They argue that he cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime and say the state’s case is barred under New York’s double jeopardy protections.
The motion marks the second time Mangione’s legal team has sought dismissal on those grounds.
His guilty plea to federal stalking charges means Luigi Mangione has been sufficiently prosecuted for killing Brian Thompson and putting him on trial in state court for murder would amount to double jeopardy, Mangione’s attorneys argued in the filing.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is seeking to bring Mangione to trial in state court, arguing the federal offense of stalking and the state charge of murder address different misconduct. The new defense filing says the “core misconduct” is effectively the same.
“Yes, stalking can also, in some circumstances, apply to conduct different and less extreme than intending to kill someone. But this has nothing to do with whether it also applies to intentional killing,” the defense filing said.
Defense attorney Karen Agnifilo also argued there is no precedent for the state prosecution being pursued after the federal case.
“There are no cases where the identical conduct — the same victim, the same gun, the same actions by the defendant, the same place and the same time — that was prosecuted by federal authorities was then also prosecuted by state authorities,” Agnifilo wrote.
Prosecutors oppose the request. The lead prosecutor in the case argues that stalking and murder are separate offenses and that double jeopardy does not apply.
Judge Gregory Carro is scheduled to hear oral arguments in December and will decide whether to dismiss the murder indictment.
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