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Justice Department lawyers pushed back on a series of arguments from accused assassin Luigi Mangione’s defense team — countering that his challenges to the potential death penalty have failed repeatedly in front of federal courts for decades.
Mangione can still receive a fair trial with the government seeking the death penalty, federal prosecutors argued in a 144-page “omnibus opposition” filed Friday.
“Publicity — even intense — is not novel in this district,” Sean Buckley, an attorney for the federal government, wrote to the judge. “Courts routinely try high visibility cases here, with robust prophylaxis against spillover prejudice, including written juror questionnaires probing media exposure, individualized and sequestered voir dire, instructions forbidding media consumption, sequestration of witnesses, and targeted admonitions.”
LUIGI MANGIONE PROSECUTORS FIRE BACK ON ‘EAVESDROPPING’ CLAIM
Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Supreme Court for a hearing in the murder case filed against him for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Sept. 16, 2025. (Curtis Means for DailyMail/Pool)
The massive filing served as an opposition to a slew of challenges Mangione’s defense raised in September and October — against the death penalty, against the government’s notice of intent to seek the death penalty and against Mangione’s federal indictment.
Buckley called some of the defense arguments premature, speculative and unsupported by evidence.
Law enforcement has methodically and purposefully trampled his constitutional rights by interrogating him without Miranda warnings in violation of the Fifth Amendment and illegally searching his property without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
“The defense motions have little to no chance of success, and are more to preserve the arguments and raise issues on appeal if Mangione is sentenced to death,” said Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor.
Mangione is accused in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot in the back on video outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to an investor conference that was supposed to start later that morning.
LUIGI MANGIONE’S JOURNAL NOT ‘MANIFESTO’ ABOUT HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY GRIEVANCES, ATTORNEY ARGUES
Luigi Mangione allegedly killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group via AP)
Mangione faces charges in New York state and at the federal level in connection with the murder — in addition to another set of charges in Pennsylvania in connection with the fake ID and illegal handgun police say they found in his possession when they arrested him at a McDonald’s in Altoona.
But only the federal case carries the potential death penalty, and Buckley argued that the Justice Department would be acting within long-standing legal precedent in seeking it if Mangione is convicted.
“What the defendant recasts as a constitutional crisis is merely a repackaging of arguments that controlling precedent has repeatedly rejected, and none warrants dismissal of the indictment or categorical preclusion of a congressionally authorized punishment,” he wrote.
UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER SUSPECT LUIGI MANGIONE INDICTED IN NEW YORK
A screenshot from surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows an alleged person of interest wanted in connection with the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024. (NYPD Crime Stoppers )
Mangione’s defense is fighting on multiple fronts. Earlier this year, his team succeeded in having a New York judge throw out terror charges at the state level.
In the federal case, his lawyers have asked the judge to dismiss charges of murder through use of a firearm and stalking in his federal indictment — and to have the potential death penalty taken off the table. In the New York and federal cases, they are asking the courts to suppress documents seized from his backpack during his arrest as well as statements he made before receiving a Miranda warning.
“Law enforcement has methodically and purposefully trampled his constitutional rights by interrogating him without Miranda warnings in violation of the Fifth Amendment and illegally searching his property without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” Mangione attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote to a New York judge Tuesday.
LUIGI MANGIONE ARGUES DOUBLE JEOPARDY IN BID TO DROP MURDER CASE, SUPPRESS EVIDENCE
Mangione’s lawyers have argued that the search of his belongings without a warrant during his arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s was unlawful. (Southern District of New York)
Buckley countered that the defense argument against those charges is legally flawed, the backpack search would have taken place regardless, and the only pre-Miranda statement prosecutors plan to use against him is when he allegedly lied about his name in response to a question that did not require the Miranda warning.
According to court filings, one of the safety concerns officers on scene had was that there might be a bomb in the bag, which she ruled out after searching it, according to prosecutors.
“Mangione’s arrest was valid and the search of his backpack was lawful as a search incident to arrest or an inventory search,” Rahmani told Fox News Digital. “Prosecutors have the discretion to seek the death penalty and the defense arguments about pretrial publicity tainting the jury pool and double jeopardy because there are parallel state and federal prosecutions have been recycled and rejected by appellate courts for decades.”
Thompson, 50, was a father of two from Minnesota. He was visiting New York City for an investor conference at the time of his murder.
Judge Margaret Garnett has not yet ruled on Mangione’s motions.
Luigi Mangione enters the courtroom in New York City Criminal Court on Dec. 23, 2024. Mangione was arraigned on state charges for the alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
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She did, however, grant his request to wear civilian clothing to an upcoming hearing on the matter.
Mangione is due back in state court Monday.
“The remaining arguments are mitigation for jurors or the DOJ’s capital case review committee to consider, not something that a judge can use to strike the death penalty at this stage of the proceedings,” Rahmani said. “Bottom line is, there is no meat on the bone, but this is what defense attorneys in capital cases are expected to do to try to save their client’s life.”
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EASTON, Mass. (WBZ) — Police body camera video shows an Easton, Massachusetts, officer rescuing a 78-year-old Raynham man from a burning car on Friday morning.
A Mack dump truck was experiencing problems on the side of Turnpike Street just after 2 a.m. when a Ford pickup truck struck the back of it, according to police.
The pickup truck then became stuck under the dump truck, trapping the driver, Francis Leverone, inside. A Toyota Camry then hit the back of the pickup truck and caught fire, police said.
Easton police officer Dean Soucie arrived at the crash and saw that the two vehicles were on fire. Video shows Soucie rushing over before breaking the driver’s side window and then, with the help of the two witnesses, freeing Leverone from the pickup truck. Soucie said he was confused but conscious.
“As I reached inside the vehicle, one of the passersby — he actually jumped into the cab of the truck, and he helped me free the individual,” Soucie said.
They then carried the driver to safety.
Leverone was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a Boston hospital. He received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
No one else was injured in the crash.
Dee Leverone told WBZ her husband is doing OK. “I’m just thankful for the people that got him out,” she said. “Very thankful.”
After watching the police body-cam video on the news she said, “I was shocked, I was like ‘Oh my God!’ I just couldn’t believe it. His truck is like melted.”
She says she realized that something was wrong last night when her husband never made it home from work.
“I kept trying to call him and call him, and I finally got a hold of him at like 4:30 a.m., and he was at (Good Samaritan Hospital) and he told me he’s gotten in an accident,” Dee said.
She says he’s recovering at the Boston Medical Center and being treated for a dislocated hip.
“He’s a trooper,” Dee said. “He’s a strong man — and you know he’s 78, but you know he’s a toughie. He definitely is a toughie.”
Soucie commended the help of the two witnesses and said that before he arrived at the crash, they had attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and removed a gasoline tank from the pickup truck before it could ignite.
“They jumped into action like it was nothing,” Soucie said. “Those two individuals were absolutely awesome.”
Easton Police Chief Keith Boone said that he is “extremely proud” of Soucie and the witnesses.
“He saved a life last night,” Chief Boone said. “He is an exemplary police officer and this is just one example. I think he’s a hero.”
Turnpike Street was closed for several hours following the crash. Easton Police are investigating.
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A new photo has been released of the victim in a nearly 30-year-long unsolved murder case, in the hope of finding any new potential witnesses in the cold case, New Hampshire officials said.
“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” the family of Rosalie Miller said in a press release. “We miss her and want to give her peace.”
Miller was last seen on December 8, 1996 at her apartment in Manchester. At the time of her disappearance, Miller had plans on meeting friends in the Auburn, New Hampshire area, officials said.
Her body was found on January 20, 1997 in a partially wooded spot on a residential lot along the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn, officials said in the release.
The autopsy report declared Miller’s death a homicide by asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation, N.H. officials wrote.
As part of a new effort to garner public help with the case, an “uncirculated” photo of Miller, 36, is being distributed “in hopes it may jog the memory of someone who saw or spoke with her in the winter of 1996,” Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall announced on behalf of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit in a joint press release.
Investigators are especially hoping to talk to anyone who was in contact with Miller in December of 1996 or anyone “who may have seen her in the vicinity of the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn during that time,” officials said in the release.
“We are releasing this new photograph today because we believe someone out there has information, perhaps a detail they thought was insignificant at the time, that could be the key to solving this case and bringing justice for Rosalie and those who loved her,” Senior Assistant Attorney General R. Christopher Knowles, New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Chief said in the release.
The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit encourages anyone with any amount of information to contact the group at [email protected] or (603) 271-2663.
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A New Jersey animal shelter is asking for the public’s help after last month’s blizzard did heavy damage to its property in Ocean County.
On social media, Popcorn Park Animal Refuge posted a video and described the fury of the storm. saying that the blizzard “caused unexpected damage… impacting habitats, fencing, structures, and critical infrastructure.”
The nonprofit animal haven says its team “worked tirelessly to keep every animal safe during the storm,” however, “the aftermath has left us facing urgent repairs and significant financial strain.”
Photo: Popcorn Park Animal Refuge
The refuge says this winter has been “especially challenging.” It says “repeated severe weather has forced extended closures to the public, further limiting vital support and creating an added burden during an already difficult recovery period,” adding “we need our community now more than ever.”
Popcorn Park was established in 1977, according to its website. It’s part of the Associated Humane Societies — which bills itself as New Jersey’s largest animal welfare organization. Popcorn Park describes itself as “a sanctuary for abandoned, injured, ill, exploited, abused, or elderly farm animals, birds, and wildlife (domestic and exotic).”
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