Following a massive victory in his New York state case, Luigi Mangione‘s lawyers have filed a motion requesting the dismissal of the federal indictment against the accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer.
In the 114-page filing obtained by Us Weekly on Saturday, September 20, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Marc Agnifilo and Jacob Kaplan lay out six ways that their “smart, kind, well-rounded” client’s “constitutional rights have been violated,” arguing that either his “indictment should be dismissed” or “the government should be precluded from prosecuting this matter as a death penalty case.”
First, Mangione’s attorneys claim U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi made “extrajudicial statements” in an April 1 press release and Instagram post directing prosecutors to seek the death penalty. (At the time, Bondi said, “Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”)
An “extrajudicial statement” is any written or oral statement made outside of court. Lawyers are often limited in what they can say publicly, especially if those statements could prejudice an ongoing legal proceeding.
Second, the legal team expresses concern that “the government allowed the grand jury to be prejudiced” by not screening them for “exposure” to Bondi’s “illegal and prejudicial statements.”
Third, Mangione’s counsel claims he was denied an opportunity to “present mitigating information” prior to Bondi calling for the death penalty, which they believe was politically motivated. (Bondi said in her press release and Instagram post that she was carrying out President Donald Trump‘s “agenda to stop violent crime.”)
Fourth, the lawyers state that “returning a death-eligible indictment through unconstitutional and prejudicial conduct violates Mangione’s due process rights by forcing him to be tried before a death-qualified jury,” which they argue “creates a great disadvantage for the defendant.”
Fifth, Mangione’s attorneys say the federal death penalty is “imposed in an arbitrary and capricious fashion,” which leads to their final point — that capital punishment itself is “unconstitutional.”
Additionally, the legal team decries Mangione being “perp walked” by “scores of law enforcement officials” and New York City Mayor Eric Adams like a “captured cartel chief or comic book villain” shortly after his arrest in December 2024, claiming it was “done purely to dehumanize” their client and “had no legitimate … purpose.”
Mangione’s lawyers filed the motion four days after a New York judge dropped the two most serious charges against the 27-year-old due to insufficient evidence: first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism and second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism.
Mangione still faces nine other charges in his state case, in addition to four federal charges, including using a firearm to commit murder and interstate stalking resulting in death.
The Maryland-raised Ivy League graduate has been accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare chief executive Thompson, 50, in Midtown Manhattan last December. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
