LAUREN FRAYER, HOST:
Pretrial hearings start tomorrow in New York in the case of Luigi Mangione. He's the 27-year-old accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, on a Manhattan street nearly a year ago. Mangione's attorneys are trying to get certain evidence thrown out ahead of a potential trial. Walter Wuthmann from member station WNYC has been reporting on Mangione's case, and he joins us now. Walter, welcome to the program.
WALTER WUTHMANN, BYLINE: Thank you.
FRAYER: So bring us up to speed. What are the charges that Mangione's facing?
WUTHMANN: So Mangione faces both federal and state murder charges in New York, as well as firearms and forgery charges in Pennsylvania. That's where police arrested him in a McDonald's last December, following a dayslong nationwide manhunt. And for the past year, Mangione's been at a federal detention center here in Brooklyn, preparing his defense on all three cases with his attorneys. And a series of suppression hearings in his New York case start tomorrow.
FRAYER: And what exactly are Mangione and his lawyers trying to get suppressed?
WUTHMANN: They're expected to argue a few things here. First, that certain statements Mangione made to local police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, are inadmissible because the officers hadn't read him his Miranda rights. Most people know these from shows like "Law & Order." You know, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you, etc. Well, Mangione's attorneys argue police didn't read him these rights until about 20 minutes after approaching him, so anything he said before that should be struck.
The next thing is the backpack police found on Mangione at the McDonald's. Law enforcement officials say they discovered key evidence linking him to Thompson's murder, including a silencer and a red notebook. That's where Mangione allegedly wrote that he wanted to, quote, "whack" an insurance executive. Defense attorneys argue this evidence should be suppressed because police searched the backpack without a proper warrant, both at the McDonald's and back at the precinct. Prosecutors are going to present police witnesses to rebut these claims, but ultimately, the judge will rule on what evidence is and is not admissible before trial.
FRAYER: And what kind of penalties does Mangione face if convicted?
WUTHMANN: Mangione could be sentenced to life in prison on the state murder charges. New York abolished capital punishment two decades ago, but Mangione faces the death penalty in his federal case after the intervention of Attorney General Pam Bondi. And this is really controversial. Federal death penalty cases are much more complicated and resource-intensive than a typical murder case, and a New York jury hasn't sentenced a person to death since 2013. I spoke to Sabrina Schroff, a federal defense attorney unconnected to the Mangione case. She says prosecutors risk overplaying their hand here.
SABRINA SCHROFF: It's not a smart move. That's what I'm really trying to say. I don't get it. What you've done is you've elevated him from the average defendant to almost, like, a cult hero.
FRAYER: Yeah. I mean, I heard about a Mangione musical production playing. So he has become something of a cult figure, right?
WUTHMANN: Absolutely. I mean, there are thousands of Internet memes glorifying Mangione as sort of an anticapitalist vigilante. There are internet groups that track his weight, his hair and his clothing between his public appearances. And crowds of supporters show up at his court hearings, many of them young women. Prosecutors push back on this characterization and argue that Mangione murdered a father of two in cold blood. Mangione's pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. And if the judge sides with the defense this week and strikes any of the evidence from his arrest, the case will get harder for prosecutors to win.
FRAYER: That's WNYC's Walter Wuthmann. Thank you.
WUTHMANN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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