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CNN
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A lawyer for Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO last year, is attempting to throw out evidence taken from his backpack and other belongings collected during his arrest, arguing he was illegally stopped and searched by police.
In a motion filed last week in a Pennsylvania court, Mangione’s lawyer Thomas Dickey said he seeks to toss more than two dozen items, including a 3D-printed gun, a fake driver’s license, and a notebook collected by police when Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona following an intense manhunt.
The filing reveals for the first time specific details of local police’s confrontation and arrest of Mangione and a detailed list of the materials found in his backpack.
The notebook, gun and false identification are key pieces of evidence that authorities allege tie Mangione to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan on December 4. The notebook allegedly refers to the investor conference Thompson was set to attend and contained “several handwritten pages that express hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.” The fake New Jersey drivers’ license matched the one used to book a room at the New York hostel, prosecutors have said.
In the Pennsylvania case, Mangione faces firearm and forgery charges in connection to the 3D-printed firearm and false ID allegedly in his possession when he was arrested in Altoona.
Dickey argues in his motion that Altoona police illegally searched Mangione’s backpack and took other items without a search warrant. Altoona police officers approached Mangione when we has sitting at a table in McDonald’s saying he “looked suspicious” and had stayed too long inside the restaurant. The attorney said the officers then frisked Mangione, took his backpack and other items, and blocked him from leaving the McDonald’s.
Mangione was questioned by officers, was not read his Miranda rights or “given any information as to why he was being held,” for more than 15 minutes, Dickey wrote.
Later, Mangione was asked his name and read his Miranda rights, the attorney said. Police then arrested Mangione.
The motion provides a detailed list of other materials found in Mangione’s backpack or in his possession. Those items include a suspected 3D-printed silencer, written notes, a laptop, two jackets, face masks, a US passport, a fake New Jersey driver’s license, currency and multiple USB electronic storage devices, including one on a necklace, according to the petition.
Mangione’s attorneys are planning to make a similar request for his New York state case.
At a hearing last week, Mangione’s defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said she would seek to exclude the evidence for the New York case, and Judge Gregory Carro ordered motions to be filed in April.
In New York, Mangione faces 11 counts, including one of murder in the first-degree and two of murder in the second-degree in Thompson’s killing, along with other weapon and forgery charges. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
If convicted of the New York charges, Mangione could face a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is also facing federal charges, including one count of using a firearm to commit murder. Though prosecutors have not yet indicated they plan to seek it, Mangione could face the death penalty if found guilty of the federal murder charge.
