Luigi Mangione’s federal death penalty trial could start before the end of the year

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s federal death penalty trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson could begin before the end of the year, a judge said Friday while weighing a defense bid to bar the government from making it a capital case.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she expects Mangione’s trial to begin in December — or possibly January 2027, as federal prosecutors suggested — if the death penalty is still on the table. If not, she said, Mangione could stand trial in October.

Either way, Garnett said, she expects jury selection to begin around Sept. 8. No trial date has been scheduled in Mangione’s parallel state murder case. Prosecutors previously said they anticipated the state trial to be first.

Garnett said she would issue a written schedule after looking at her calendar and reviewing notes of conversations she's had with the court’s jury coordinator.

The judge said she would rule at a later date on the defense's requests to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, throw out some charges and exclude certain evidence. Another pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 30.

Mangione’s lawyers contend that authorities prejudiced his case by turning his December 2024 arrest into a “Marvel movie” spectacle and by publicly declaring their desire to see him executed even before he was formally indicted.

At the same time, they are asking Garnett to throw out two of the four charges against him, including the murder by firearm charge that has enabled the government to seek the death penalty. They argue that it is legally flawed.

Federal prosecutors say Mangione’s lawyers are wrong on both fronts, countering that the murder charge is legally sufficient and that “pretrial publicity, even when intense” is hardly a constitutional crisis. Any concerns about public perceptions can be alleviated by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges, which carry the possibility of life in prison.

Friday's hearing was Mangione’s first trip to Manhattan federal court since his April 25 arraignment.

A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry, Mangione again drew supporters to the courthouse. Some wore green clothing and carried signs such as “Free Luigi" and “No Death For Luigi Mangione."

Mangione, wearing a beige jail uniform, was attentive but didn’t speak once during the nearly three-hour proceeding. After entering the courtroom, he greeted his lead attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, with handshakes. He nodded along while reading documents, sometimes sipping from a plastic water bottle.

In addition to the death penalty issue, Garnett is weighing a defense request — similar to one in his state case — to bar the government from using certain items found in a backpack during his arrest. The defense argues that the search was illegal because police had not yet obtained a warrant.

Those items include a gun that police said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which Mangione purportedly described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.

Garnett said she is not inclined to hold a separate hearing on the evidence issue like one last month that took three weeks in Mangione’s state murder case. The judge in that case said he won’t rule until May.

Prosecutors contend police were justified in searching the backpack to make sure there were no dangerous items and that the gun, notebook and other evidence would have eventually been found anyway.

Thompson, 50, was killed Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, 27, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

He's already had success paring down his state case. In September, a judge threw out state terrorism charges against him.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last year that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, declaring that capital punishment was warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Mangione’s lawyers argue that Bondi’s announcement, which she followed with Instagram posts and a TV appearance, showed the decision was “based on politics, not merit.” Her remarks tainted the grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks later, they said.

In this courtroom sketch, Luigi Mangione, center, flanked by his attorneys Karen Agnifilo, left and Marc Agnifilo, right, during his court appearance in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Luigi Mangione, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Supporters of Luigi Mangione raise signs outside Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

US Marshall Service officer stand while people wait in line outside Manhattan federal court ahead of a hearing for Luigi Mangione, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Legal team of Luigi Mangione including Karen Friedman Agnifilo, center, and Marc Agnifilo, second right, arrive at Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — A man drove past where the buses that carried the Miami Hurricanes back to their campus on Friday afternoon, windows rolled down on his vehicle and he was smiling as he honked his horn over and over and over again.

It was Miami coach Mario Cristobal.

Yes, he allowed himself a few moments of joy.

Cristobal and the Hurricanes are back home, where they'll stay for the remainder of the season. They'll be the visiting team — as the lower seed — in the College Football Playoff championship game against Indiana, a 56-22 winner over Oregon in the Peach Bowl, at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19, meaning they'll be on the sideline opposite the one they usually occupy. The plan is that they will get to use their regular locker room, though.

“We're progressing at an unbelievable rate,” Cristobal said in the parking lot before driving away — and before he signed dozens of autographs and took dozens of selfies with fans who showed up to welcome the team home from their Fiesta Bowl win over Mississippi on Thursday night. "Our guys are fighting through injury. They’re fighting for each other. They’re doing a great job, just keeping focused on being a great team. We’re playing for each other and for the University of Miami.”

Miami (13-2, No. 10 seed in the CFP) is playing a championship game on its home field for the fifth time. The Hurricanes won national titles at the now-demolished Orange Bowl to cap the 1983, 1987 and 1991 seasons — Cristobal played in that 1991 game — then lost a title game at the Orange Bowl to wrap up the 1994 season.

Players arrived shortly after Cristobal and were mobbed in a similar fashion, some stopping for photos and quick chats, others being whisked away relatively quickly. Cristobal said he had a meeting to get to Friday evening; other coaches like offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said they were looking forward to a couple of hours off to rest up.

By Saturday at the football complex, it'll be back to work for the coaches.

“We're beyond excited to be able to come back home and play one more time at Hard Rock,” Cristobal said. “It's the final chapter for the season, right? We'll have an opportunity to determine how that chapter ends.”

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Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, center, holds a trophy after winning the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal yells from the sideline during the second half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)