A federal judge on Wednesday declined to delay the federal trial of Luigi Mangione until next year, denying a request by his attorneys who had expressed concern they couldn’t prepare for trial while simultaneously defending the 27-year-old in state court.
US District Judge Margaret Garnett instead slightly modified the dates of the federal trial in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pushing the start of jury selection to October 5 – four weeks after it had been previously scheduled. Opening statements in the case are now scheduled for October 26 or November 2, Garnett said.
“I am skeptical of moving the trial wholesale into 2027 when the state trial has not been adjourned, and I think it’s a little bit of the tail wagging the dog,” she said. “I don’t have any control over the state’s schedule.”
The judge’s decision means Mangione is expected to stand trial in federal court about four months after the scheduled start of his trial on separate charges in New York state court – although she indicated the new dates of the federal trial could be revised.
The December 2024 fatal shooting happened on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk outside a hotel where Thompson, 50, was set to attend an annual investors conference. Mangione’s arrest five days later at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, ended a multi-state manhunt.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to two counts of stalking in the federal case, and second-degree murder and eight other counts in the state case. If convicted of the most serious charges, he could face up to life in prison.
Mangione’s attorneys had asked Garnett to delay the federal case to January 2027, expressing concern it would overlap with the prosecution in state court, complicating their ability to adequately defend their client.
“Realistically, defense counsel cannot be defending Mr. Mangione in state court on second-degree murder charges that carry a maximum sentence of twenty-five years to life while, at the same time, also reviewing 800 questionnaires for a federal case that carries a maximum life sentence,” defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote in a March letter to Garnett.
Prosecutor Dominic Gentile, who argued against a delay, said Wednesday the public has a right to a speedy trial.
“Your Honor need only look out the window to see the people that follow this defendant and believe that what he did was right,” he said at the hearing, referencing those who support Mangione based on their own anger and resentment toward the American health care system.
“This case is ready to move forward,” he added.
Gentile suggested the defense was seeking a delay in part because the law firm represents another high-profile client – Harvey Weinstein, who faces a retrial for an alleged sex crime in New York state court later this month.
The defense, however, said that played no role in their decision to ask for the delay.
“That is not a factor whatsoever,” Friedman Agnifilo told the judge.
Garnett brushed the matter aside, saying other cases are not her concern. Rather, the judge is most worried about Mangione’s state case impacting the federal jury selection process, she said. Potential jurors would be filling out questionnaires while “there’s a massive press pool and a lot of attention on the state trial which is ongoing just two blocks from here,” Garnett said.
It is unclear if the scheduling change in the federal case will impact Mangione’s state trial, which is set to begin with jury selection on June 8. New York Judge Gregory Carro previously indicated he would move the state trial to September if federal prosecutors appealed Garnett’s ruling removing the death penalty from Mangione’s federal case. In February, prosecutors indicated they do not plan to appeal the ruling.
Mangione’s defense attorneys – who have repeatedly said they will not be ready for the state trial to begin in June – referenced Carro’s possible delay in court Wednesday in an attempt to sway the federal judge.
Friedman Agnifilo said they are asking the state judge for additional time to conduct investigations in support of their defense.
This story has been updated with additional information.
