Luigi Mangione's lawyers say possible death penalty 'based on politics, not merit'

Mangione faces four federal charges in the murder of CEO Brian Thompson.

The federal indictment that makes Luigi Mangione eligible for the death penalty if he's convicted of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson should be dismissed because a "torrent of prejudice from multiple public officials" violated his constitutional rights and made it impossible for him to receive a fair trial, defense attorneys argued in a new court filing Saturday.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges, including one death-eligible count of using a firearm to commit murder, that accused him of tracking Thompson's whereabouts, traveling to New York where Thompson was attending an investor conference, stalking him on the street and then firing several shots from a 9mm pistol.

The defense conceded there is a high bar to dismiss an indictment due to pretrial publicity but argued, "there has never been a situation remotely like this one where prejudice has been so great against a death-eligible defendant."

Defense attorneys pointed to what they called a "dehumanizing, unconstitutional" perp walk in New York, during which Mangione was televised clambering out of a helicopter in shackles.

"This was done solely to prejudice him and without the slightest legitimate law enforcement objective," defense attorneys Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Avi Moskowitz argued.

"The United States Attorney General as well as law enforcement personnel and the highest New York City elected official took every opportunity to prejudice Mr. Mangione's chances of having a fair grand jury hearing and fair legal proceedings in this death penalty case," the defense's filing said. "Placing their own, and their administration's, political agendas above the constitutional safeguards assured to every criminal defendant, and especially one facing a death sentence, they serially violated the constitution, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, this court's local rules and traditional notions of fairness."

The defense pointed to public statements, social media posts and television appearances by Attorney General Pam Bondi that they said made clear the decision to seek the death penalty was based on politics and not merit.

In April, Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione if he is convicted of Thompson's murder.

"Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson -- an innocent man and father of two young children -- was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America," Bondi said in a statement at the time.

"The Attorney General of the United States is telling the public that based on her personal experience as a capital prosecutor who tried death penalty cases throughout her career that Mangione is guilty and should be executed," the defense said. "In addition, she also called the incident 'an act of political violence' even though Mr. Mangione was charged in a complaint with stalking a single person who was not a politician, or an activist, and who was not otherwise engaged in politics."

Meanwhile, a judge this week dismissed two state murder charges related to acts of terrorism as Mangione made his first Manhattan courtroom appearance in five months.

Judge Gregory Carro tossed out first and second-degree murder charges that accused Mangione of murder as a crime of terrorism. The judge said the evidence presented to the grand jury was insufficient to support the terrorism charge.

The rest of the indictment remains, with the judge refusing to dismiss another second-degree murder charge, to which Mangione has pleaded not guilty.

"We respect the Court's decision and will proceed on the remaining nine counts, including Murder in the Second Degree," the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said in a statement following the ruling.

Mangione's next court appearance is in December.