Judge in NY state case suppressed key evidence in Luigi Mangione murder trial including most of the items found in his backpack, citing ‘illegal search and seizure’, during arrest of suspect

Jurors will still be allowed to view contents of Mangione’s notebook where he allegedly wrote that he wanted to ‘whack’ a senior figure in the health insurance industry, as well as the weapon at his murder trial

However, other items recovered during his arrest, such as a magazine of bullets wrapped in underwear, a cellphone, passport and wallet will not go before the jury

Mangione, 28, is on trial for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Manhattan on December 4, 2024

State of NY charged Mangione with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and possession of a forged instrument, Mangione, 28, has pled not guilty

Mangione who faces 25 years to life if he is convicted on state charges, also faces federal murder and weapons possession charges with the potential of capital punishment

Luigi Mangione, photo], is on trial for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Manhattan in December 2024. On Monday a judge ruled on whether key evidence from his arrest can be shown to jurors

High profile murder suspect, Luigi Mangione, scored a partial victory on Monday after a judge in a New York threw out some of the key evidence recovered during his arrest – but jurors will still be allowed to see his alleged ‘manifesto’ and weapon at his murder trial. 
The mixed ruling is both a win and a setback for Mangione in his New York state case over the alleged fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson.
The 59-year-old father of two, was fatally shot by a masked figure outside the Hilton hotel in Manhattan on December 4, 2024, as he was headed for an industry conference.
The state charged Mangione an Ivy League educated 28-year-old from from Baltimore, Maryland, with second-degree murder, multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon and the possession of a forged instrument in the assassination of Thompson.
Mangione has pled not guilty to all charges.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson [photo], 59, was shot and killed outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, NYC, as he arrived early for a meeting in December 2024

Late last year, Judge Carro held a nine-day hearing to determine what evidence could be allowed after Mangione’s lawyers argued that his constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure were violated.
Police found a notebook in Mangione’s backpack, in which he allegedly wrote that he wanted to ‘whack’ a senior figure in the health insurance industry. During a hearing at Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, Judge Gregory Carro ruled the notebook can be introduced at trial. 
Prosecutors will also be allowed to introduce into evidence the 9mm ‘ghost gun’ – the alleged murder weapon.
However, other items recovered during his arrest, such as a magazine of bullets wrapped in underwear, a cellphone, passport and wallet will not go before the jury.
He is due to go on trial in September for the state case.
Mangione also faces murder and weapons possession charges in a separate federal case, scheduled to go begin next year once the state matter is concluded.

Thompson was gunned down in Midtown Manhattan by a masked gunman, ahead of a work conference. The masked figure who assassinated the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, one of the largest medical insurers in the country, cops said is Luigi Mangione

NYPD officers converged on the street in  Manhattan where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down on his way to a conference in 2024

Judge Gregory Carro, who is presiding over the case, ruled that prosecutors will be able to present the 3D-printed ‘ghost gun’, [image], allegedly found in Mangione’s possession during his arrest, as evidence to the jury

In claiming that their client’s constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure were violated, the defense team argued that police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, did not have a warrant to search Mangione when he was arrested at a McDonald’s in the town five days after the December 4 shooting.
Among the contents of the bag was a red notebook, which prosecutors called a ‘manifesto’ while Mangione’s lawyers have referred to it as a ‘journal.’
The not insignificant contents of the notebook includes a statement from October 2024, in which Mangione stated that he wanted to ‘whack’ the chief executive of an insurance company at its annual ‘bean counter conference’.
Six weeks later, Thompson was shot outside the Hilton Midtown during a UnitedHealthcare conference.

Mangione on Monday, [photo], pled not guilty to second degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and possession of a forged instrument. He faces 25 years to life if he is convicted on state charges, in addition to federal murder and weapons possession charges with the potential of capital punishment

During Monday’s hearing, Judge Carro told the court that police officers in Altoona conducted an ‘improper, warrantless search’ of Mangione at the local McDonald’s, where he was arrested.
As a result, items allegedly recovered during that search, including a magazine of bullets, a cellphone, passport and wallet, will not be allowed in as evidence.
However, the judge found that once Mangione was taken to the police station, officers carried out a ‘valid inventory search’, the judge said.

Prosecutors said that after the murder, Luigi Mangione fled New York and was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, 200 miles away from the crime scene

That means the 9mm gun, silencer and the manifesto, which were discovered at the police station, will be allowed to be presented at trial. 
The judge also ruled that any statements made by Mangione before he was technically in custody were not admissible.
Judge Carro said the cutoff was eight minutes after the first officers spoke to him.
Up until that point, Mangione admitted to one cop that he should not have given him a fake ID with the name ‘Mark Rosario’ on it.
That admission will not be allowed as evidence, the judge ruled.
Monday’s hearing drew a crowd of supporters of Mangione outside the courthouse. 

After Thompson was fatally shot in the chest at 6:45am that December morning, NYPD officers descended on the Hilton and launched a manhunt for a suspect seen speeding off on a bike

According to prosecutors, a journal entry from October 2024 allegedly described the investor conference  as ‘a true windfall.’ 
The journal stated: ‘It embodies everything wrong with our health system’.
In another entry from August 2024, Mangione allegedly wrote: ‘I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are coming together.
‘And I don’t feel any doubt about whether it’s right/justified. I’m glad, in a way, that I’ve procrastinated bc it allowed me to learn more about (UnitedHealthcare).
‘The target is insurance. It checks every box.’

CCTV footage release by NYPD at the time showed the figure believed the shooter, leaving the scene with a backpack on a bike 

Prosecutors have described as a ‘manifesto’ and was found in Mangione’s backpack, can also be introduced at trial. Above, evidence recovered by police in Central Park during the investigation

Police who arrested Mangione said that the bullets in the magazine convinced them he was the killer.
According to prosecutors, the bullets used to kill Thompson had the words ‘delay’, ‘deny’ and ‘depose’ written on them in reference to the language used to deny health insurance claims.
Mangione recently caught a break in the separate federal case, which is taking place in New York in a courtroom a few blocks from the state court.
US District Judge Margaret M. Garnett dismissed four of the federal counts, including murder through the use of a firearm and a related firearms offense.
Critically, the dismissal of the murder charge meant Mangione is no longer eligible for the death penalty.
Mangione still faces two counts of interstate stalking, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Mangione is currently being held at the grim Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison in Brooklyn whose previous inmates included R. Kelly and Diddy.
Ahead of his hearing on Monday, Judge Garnett ordered the Bureau of Prisons to make sure Mangione could wear civilian clothes.
She said that he has to be given a suit, one shirt, a pair of socks and a pair of shoes, but no laces.