Mangione Team Withdraws Mental Health Defense in New York State Trial

Defense attorneys for the man accused of gunning down a UnitedHealthcare CEO at Midtown Manhattan in December 2024 withdrew their pursuit of a mental health defense on Thursday evening. “The defense respectfully withdraws CPL 250.10 notice at this time,” the defense team for Luigi Mangione wrote in a short letter filed at Manhattan Criminal Court.The legal code refers to a section of the New York Criminal Procedure Law that governs the rules for a notice of “Intent to Proffer Psychiatric Evidence.” It’s essentially a motion, filed by attorneys, asking the judge for permission to provide evidence that establishes the defendant was psychologically or emotionally disturbed when he committed the crime and can therefore not be held responsible for his actions. The presiding judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro, ordered that the documents regarding Mr. Mangione’s psychiatric evaluations remain sealed.On Wednesday, defense attorneys had said during a hearing in open court that they intended to claim Mr. Mangione suffered “extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the occurrence” of the crime. Thursday’s letter included no explanation for the reversal. “I’m really surprised,” a criminal defense attorney from Baltimore, Thomas Maronick, told The New York Sun. “It seemed like the defense had taken a stick in the sand and said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do.’ And then they said, ‘No, just kidding.’ Very surprising.”The 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, a father of two, had traveled to New York from his home state of Minnesota in December 2024 to attend an annual investor conference. A suspect gunned him down on the sidewalk outside the New York Hilton where the meeting was to occur and then fled the scene. Five days after the shooting, Mr. Mangione was arrested at a McDonalds at Altoona, Pennsylvania.Mr. Mangione, 28, is being prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for second-degree murder and weapon charges. Meanwhile, the Southern District of New York has also indicted him. Federal prosecutors accuse the defendant of having stalked Thompson across state lines. The two trials are scheduled to begin after the summer, starting with the state trial on September 8. The federal trial will follow at the end of October. Mr. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges. A third trial with additional charges will take place in Pennsylvania.On Wednesday, Judge Carro ordered the defense to share with prosecutors and the public all documents relating to Mr. Mangione’s psychiatric evaluations. The prosecution has a right to know “the malady… the defendant suffered from,” the judge said. Now “in light of” the retraction of the mental health defense, “the court’s previous order sealing certain transcripts, emails, and documents, remains in effect,” the judge ruled in a written decision, which was also published on Thursday evening.Asked if he believes Mr. Mangione and his team may have retracted the psychiatric defense over concerns about making public certain contents of his health records, Mr. Maronick speculated that “they may have been concerned that there was some damaging information in there.”“But it also could be just technical in nature. They could see if there’s another way around it,” the criminal defense attorney said.On Wednesday, the judge also promised to make public the transcript of a hearing held behind closed doors on June 3. According to NBC, “a transcript released Thursday,” indicated that Mr. Mangione’s defense team “told the judge in early June that logistics related to the federal case made it difficult for them to present an emotional disturbance defense strategy.” The New York Sun was not able to view the transcript by the time of publication nor verify if the report was referencing the transcript of the secret conference held on June 3. However, Mr. Mangione’s lead defense attorney, Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, said in court during Wednesday’s hearing that the mental health defense “is not available federally.” Under the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984, federal law recognizes a mental health defense, but the limitations are much stricter than in state court. Federal courts have a much higher burden of proof and do not recognize “diminished capacity.”By giving notice to make a mental health defense, Mr. Mangione effectively admitted that he committed the crime. Mr. Maronick noted, though he did so during a pretrial hearing. “He’s not in front of a jury yet,” he said, meaning the defense could still argue at trial that the evidence presented by the prosecutors does not prove Mr. Mangione’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.“They’re going to have to come up with a new strategy, or go back to plan A,” Mr. Maronick said. Had the defense team been able to convince a jury that its client was indeed “disturbed” when he committed the crime, the second-degree murder charge would have been reduced to first-degree manslaughter.Another attorney who practices criminal law primarily in federal court and requested to not use his name told The New York Sun that he believes the defense team “course-corrected, because they realized the mental health defense was not a smart move.” “That’s putting all your eggs in one basket,” the attorney said. “You’re admitting guilt and then have to convince the jury the defendant didn’t know what he was doing.” The attorney added that Mr. Mangione appeared to be anything but mentally incapacitated given the meticulous planning of the crime. The fact that he fled the crime scene after the shooting further proves that “he knew the difference between right and wrong,” the attorney opined. Mr. Mangione’s next hearing is scheduled in federal court for June 29, at which time the parties are expected to discuss the questionnaire for jury selection.

Mangione Team Withdraws Mental Health Defense in New York State Trial

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