Luigi Mangione’s lawyers filed new papers on Friday seeking to have his state case dismissed over the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson. The filing renewed their argument that Mangione’s guilty plea to federal charges prevents Manhattan prosecutors from pursuing the state murder and weapons case under New York’s double jeopardy protections.
Mangione pleaded guilty to two federal stalking charges on 14 August in connection with Thompson’s death outside a Manhattan hotel on 4 December 2024. The plea came less than a month before his state trial was scheduled to begin on 8 September. His lawyers first requested dismissal of the state case roughly an hour after he entered the federal plea.
Thompson’s killing prompted an extensive search for the person responsible. It also unleashed anger toward the United States’ for-profit healthcare industry, which has faced longstanding criticism that it places financial interests above patients’ needs, to patients’ detriment.
The legal dispute centers on protections provided by New York law. The US constitution’s double jeopardy provisions do not prevent state and federal authorities from prosecuting the same crimes separately. New York’s statute, however, restricts repeated prosecution for the same offense, as well as separate prosecutions for offenses arising from the same act or criminal transaction.
In their latest submission, defense lawyers argued that both cases concern the same underlying conduct: the intention to kill Thompson and his killing. They said the federal stalking statute covers stalking undertaken with an intent to kill that results in the victim’s death. Although that law also addresses conduct that does not end in death, they argued that its broader reach does not alter its application to an intentional killing or its shared purpose with a state murder statute.
Manhattan prosecutors oppose dismissal. In papers filed on 9 October, they argued that an exception to New York’s double jeopardy provisions permits the state proceedings to continue. Their position is that federal stalking and state murder offenses do not overlap in a way that triggers the protections. They also argued that statutory double jeopardy requires a separate prosecution for the same misconduct and that dismissed federal charges do not amount to such a prosecution.
Gregory Carro, the judge overseeing the state case, postponed proceedings following Mangione’s unexpected federal plea. The next court date is scheduled for 10 December.
