Day 4 of Luigi Mangione's pretrial hearing is postponed because he's sick, judge says

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NEW YORK (AP) — A pretrial hearing on Luigi Mangione’s bid to exclude evidence from his state murder case was postponed Friday because the defendant is sick, his lawyers and the judge said.

The hearing is slated to resume Monday.

Mangione is seeking to exclude a gun, notebook and other items police officers say they found in his backpack when he was arrested Dec. 9, 2024, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in Manhattan. He and his lawyers are also trying to suppress some statements he made to police.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. The hearing, which started Monday and could extend through the end of next week, applies only to the state case.

“Apparently the defendant is ill today,” Judge Gregory Carro said, addressing the courtroom around the time a fourth day of testimony was supposed to start.

“Yes,” Mangione lawyer Marc Agnifilo said.

The evidence is key to prosecutors’ case. They have said the 9 mm handgun found in the backpack matches the firearm used in the killing, that writings in the notebook laid out Mangione’s disdain for health insurers and ideas about killing a CEO at an investor conference, and that he gave police the same fake name that the alleged gunman used at a New York hostel days before the shooting.

Thompson, 50, was shot from behind as he walked to an investor conference. He became UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in 2021 and had worked within parent UnitedHealth Group Inc. for 20 years.

Manhattan prosecutors haven’t yet detailed their arguments for allowing the disputed evidence. Federal prosecutors have maintained that the backpack search was justified to ensure there was nothing dangerous inside, and that Mangione’s statements to officers were voluntary and made before he was under arrest.