The 26-year-old suspect accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a street at midtown Manhattan, Luigi Mangione, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment at the New York State Supreme Court on Monday.          

“How do you plead?” Judge Gregory Carro asked the defendant, referring to the 11-count indictment handed up against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Among the charges against him are murder in the first-degree — the most serious homicide offense in New York State, punishable by 20 years to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

“Not guilty,” Mr. Mangione, wearing a burgundy sweater over a white button down shirt and khaki pants and orange prison shoes, answered. His feet remained shackled, while his handcuffs were removed for the course of the proceeding. When he entered the courtroom at about 9:30am, two dozen young women, who had come to attend the arraignment, smiled at him. 

The high-profile case has triggered a bizarre outpouring of public support for the alleged killer because of the unpopularity of health insurers such as United Healthcare, and Mr. Mangione’s status as an Ivy League graduate and high school valedictorian from an influential real estate family at Towson, Maryland.     

Mr. Mangione’s appearance on Monday morning differed from his appearance in federal court last week, when he sported what seemed to be a fresh haircut and was clean shaven. Over the weekend his facial hair had grown back. He also seemed less subdued and more annoyed, chewing as he walked down the aisle to the defense table. 

“I am very concerned about my client’s right to a fair trial,” his lead defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told Judge Carro. She also wore a burgundy sweater over a white button shirt, almost matching her client’s outfit. Her husband, and co-council, Marc Agnifilo, who is currently defending Sean “Diddy” Combs against federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for purposes of prostitution, sat next to her.

“Like every other defendant,” Ms. Agnifilo went on, “he is entitled to the presumption of innocence… He is a young man and he is being treated like a ping pong ball,” she said, referring to the federal charges brought against Mr. Mangione at the Southern District for New York, which includes murder with the use of a firearm, a death sentence eligible charge, as the Sun has reported.

She had expressed similar concerns in federal court last week, when she asked the judge “for clarity” and described the two separate cases for the same crime against her client as “highly unusual.” On Monday, she reiterated that the two indictments had “conflicting theories.” In federal court, Mr. Mangione is being charged with “stalking an individual,” as she paraphrased the complaint, while in state court he is facing terrorism charges. 

Mr. Bragg, who announced the state indictment last week, is alleging, among other felonies, murder in the first-degree, is accusing Mr. Magione of having “killed in furtherance as an act of terrorism,” which is legally defined as an intent to intimidate or coerce the civilian population or a government unit.

Both state and federal prosecutors allege that on December 4 at 6:45am in front of the Hilton Hotel at Midtown Manhattan, Mr. Mangione “armed with a 9-millimeter 3D-printed ghost gun equipped with a silencer,” the district attorney’s statement reads, “approached Mr. Thompson from behind and shot him once in the back and once in the leg.” The executive, who was on his way to an investor conference, was pronounced dead at the hospital half an hour later. Mr. Mangione allegedly fled the scene and left New York the same morning.  

After a five-day manhunt, Mr. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s at Altoona, Pennsylvania carrying, according to police reports, a 9-millimeter 3-D printed handgun, two ammunition magazines, multiple live cartridges, a homemade silencer, and a fake New Jersey drivers license, which he allegedly used to check into the hostel at Manhattan where he stayed before he killed the executive, a husband and a father of two. 

Last Thursday, after Mr. Mangione waived his right to fight extradition to New York at Blair County courthouse at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, the alleged killer was transported via plane to Long Island and then via helicopter to Manhattan’s Wall Street heliport, where was met by Mayor Adams and the New York Police Department commissioner, Jessica Tisch. Led by the high ranking officials and surrounded by a swarm of NYPD officers, he was walked from the helicopter into a black van with cameras catching every step. 

Ms. Agniflio criticized Mr. Adams for treating her client, as she told the judge, “like a spectacle,” when he was given “the biggest perp walk,” she had “ever seen,” escorted by “assault riffles” she said, “I didn’t know existed.”

Ms. Agniflio described the perp walk as “perfectly choreographed, utterly political” and  “absolutely unnecessary.” She expressed concern that the mayor did not once use the word “alleged” when speaking about her client, and that his accusations could prejudice potential jurors. She cited one statement Mr. Adams gave to reporters verbatim: “I’m not going to just allow him (Mr. Mangione) to come into our city.” Mr. Adams told reporters. “I wanted to look him in the eye and state that, ‘You carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city that the people of New York love.’ And I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that.”

“He’s not a symbol,” Ms. Agniflio fumed on Monday, adding that the mayor “was talking to jurors, people that elected him,” and that this behavior “had to stop” and that her team was going to “fight these charges.”  

An assistant district attorney, Joel Seidemann, prosecuting the case on behalf of Mr. Bragg said he was not sure how repeating Mr. Adams’ statements about Mr. Mangione was relevant in court. 

“As you know, I have very little control of what happens outside this courtroom,” the judge told the defense attorney, assuring her that “we will carefully select a jury,” and promising that “every client that comes through these doors” gets “a fair trial.”  

The attorneys then discussed when and how soon the prosecution’s evidence would be provided to the defense. Mr. Seidemann mentioned hundreds of hours of video footage for which, he said, he would need a 2TB large external hard drive. 

“We’ll do our best,” Mr. Seidemann said. “This is not a normal case.” He added that the prosecution was in touch with the police department at Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Mangione was arrested.   

The trial at Manhattan criminal court will take place before the trial at federal court. “We have primary jurisdiction,” Mr. Seidemann told the judge. “The trial and the sentencing will take place here… and prior to anything that goes on in the federal system.” 

It was unclear on Monday, in which facility the defendant would be kept. Mr. Magione is currently in federal custody at Metropolitan Detention Center at Brooklyn, but state prosecutors demanded that he be transferred to state custody at Rikers Island.       

The next hearing at Manhattan criminal court is scheduled for February 21. Meanwhile Mr. Mangione is also scheduled to appear in federal court on January 18. 

Besides the indictments in New York, Mr. Mangione also faces charges in Pennsylvania for allegedly carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to the authorities, and possessing instruments of a crime, according to a criminal complaint.