Luigi Mangione’s team argues double jeopardy bars state murder trial

Lawyers for Luigi Mangione on Friday continued to push for the dismissal of his state court murder and weapons case, arguing that his guilty plea to federal stalking charges two months ago bars a separate trial. Mangione, the admitted killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court in August. The plea set off a protracted battle over the future of the separate state court prosecution for second-degree murder and weapons possession. His state trial, slated to start Sept. 18, was postponed indefinitely so the court could take up whether double jeopardy applies. A decision on the dismissal motion is expected Dec. 10. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office maintains the state case can legally proceed because its charges differ substantially from those in the federal court case, which centered on stalking and crossing state lines and cyberstalking through use of interstate facilities, each resulting in death.

The state indictment is a classic murder case, prosecutors argued, and murder is generally not defined by federal statutes. Mangione’s team countered Friday that the charges in the two cases are materially the same. They told New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro that the federal offenses Mangione pleaded guilty to, interstate stalking resulting in death, involves overlapping legal elements. “Here, Mangione was charged by the federal grand jury with