Luigi Mangione’s upcoming hearing in Pennsylvania has been canceled because he refuses to appear in court remotely.
The 27-year-old, accused in the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, had asserted his right to be present in person for the Nov. 7 hearing, and all subsequent court appearances, but the federal government denied his request to appear in Blair County.
As a result, the hearing is on hold and the court must now be updated every 60 days on his ability to appear.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, 2024 in connection to the killing of Thompson, and is facing charges there, including carrying a firearm without a license, forgery, tampering with records or identification, false identification to law enforcement, and possessing instruments of crime, according to the criminal complaint.
He also faces charges in New York state, where he is being held, as well as federal charges in the killing of Thompson. Following a recent ruling by a judge in New York City, he now faces nine state charges. The federal ones carry the possibility of the death penalty. Â
Judge scolds DOJ over public statements in case
The news comes nearly a week after a federal judge said multiple Department of Justice employees may have violated a rule regarding Mangione’s right to a fair trial.
Luigi Mangione is escorted by police as he arrives for a hearing as his lawyers push to have his state murder charges dismissed in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, at Manhattan Criminal Court on Sept. 16, 2025 in New York City.Â
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Mangione’s attorneys filed a letter alleging the government continues to prejudice him. It included screenshots, purportedly of DOJ employees re-posting comments President Trump made about Mangione, along with opinions. The social posts were later deleted, defense attorneys said.
In response, Judge Margaret Garnett said it appears, based on the letter and screenshots, that multiple DOJ employees may have violated Local Criminal Rule 23.1 and a court order from April to follow that rule.
Garnett clarified in a statement that the rule in question provides prosecutors or their employees “not to release or authorize the release of … opinion that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication, in connection with pending… criminal litigation with which they are associated, if there is a substantial likelihood that the dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the true administration of justice.”Â
The judge ordered the government to respond by Oct. 3, and wants to know what future steps will be taken to ensure no future violations happen.
N.Y. terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione dismissed
Mangione appeared shackled and wearing tan prison clothing at a pre-trial hearing on Sept. 16 in Manhattan. Not long after, Judge Gregory Carro threw out the state terrorism charges against him, ruling murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism were “legally insufficient.”
Mangione will still face second-degree murder and eight weapons-related charges in the state case. If convicted of the top count, it carries a sentence of 25 years to life. He has pleaded not guilty.
His lawyers have been fighting to get the state charges thrown out entirely, arguing the parallel cases amount to double jeopardy. In his written decision on Sept. 16, Carro ruled against their request.
The defense also wants to suppress evidence from Mangione’s backpack, including a gun and notebook, claiming it was obtained without a search warrant, and wants statements Mangione made to law enforcement suppressed because his attorneys allege officers failed to provide Miranda warnings. His attorneys also want non-eyewitness identification testimony at trial, meaning someone who was not a witness to an alleged crime who makes an identification from a picture or video.
Carro did not rule on any of those issues, but said hearings on each will begin on Dec. 1.
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