LOS ANGELES.–Barking out in New York State Court, 27-year-old cold blooded killer of 50-year-old United Healthcare CEO Brian Thomson Luigi Mangione showed he can’t control his anger. Mangione stalked Thomson on 54th Street near the Mindtown Manhattan Hilton where he shot him in the back, then fled the city, eventually taking Greyhound bus to Altoona, Pa. where he was arrested at a McDonalds eating his Egg McMuffin and hasb browns. “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any common sense definition,” Mangione blurted out, not knowing the meaning of double jeopardy. Mangione doesn’t know that the charges differ in state and federal court prompting two separate trials, not, as he says, placing in double jeopardy, trying him twice for the same crimes. Yet Mangione doesn’t know the difference, just lets his psychotic thoughts out in the courtroom.
Whether prosecutors or defense counsel admit it or not, Mangione is a paranoid schizophrenic by anyone’s definitions, someone with well-crystalized delusions, leading to his perverted thinking about murdering Brian Thomson to highlight problems in the health care industry. Mangione’s personal diary and manifesto found in his backpack showed that he had well-developed ideas about health care, complaining about his own problems with the industry. When it comes to his defense attorney Karen Friendman Agnifilo pleading insanity, Luigi’s mental health diagnosis doesn’t rule out his capability to stand trial, to know the consequences of his actions, mitigating an insanity defense. But Friedman-Agnifilo could very well use an insantify defense.to connvince a jury that Mangione did not go through the elaborate planning needed to pull off his Dec. 4, 2024 cold blooded murder.
When it comes to a an insanity defense, Manhattan Asst. District Atty. Joe Sneiderman could easily refute an insanity plea based on the amount of planning in the murder itself but the elaborate escape route Mangione took to elude police for days before his arrest. Mangione went through careful planning before taking down Brian Thomson on 54th Street. Now that he’s stuck in a jail cell thinking about what he did, he’s looking for ways with his defense attorney to buy his freedom. But there so much evidence against him, he’s going to spend the rest of his life in jail, unless his attorney convinces a jury that he was insane at the time of the murder, in which case he’ll spend his adult life in a mental institution. Mangione is like a trapped animal knowing what he faces in two murder trials. But he’s misinformed about the nature of double-jeopardy, something he’s been told.
Mangione’s defense team complained they don’t have enough time for a June start to his trial on state charges in Manhattan. Judge Gregory Carro told Friedman-Agnifilo to “be ready,” for a July 1 start date. “Mr. Mangione is being put in an untenable situation,” said Friedman-Agnifilo. “This is a tug-of-war between two different prosecution offices,” referring to the state and federal trials. All the facts remain the same in both cases, so preparing for one case should be no different whether it’s in state or federal court. So when Magione’s defense attorney asks for more time the judge has little sympathy. What facts can possibly change when Mangione was the perpetrator of a premeditate murder, carefully planned for months and well executed on Dec. 5, 20024. Magione pleaded not guilty to murdering Brian Thomson, all because the criminal justice system gives the presumption of innocence.
When it comes to murder trials, there’s room for clever defense attorneys to operate to find that one juror that’s willing to hang the jury. Criminal trials require unanimous consent with all 12 jurors signing onto the charges. High profile case the the 1995 OJ Simpson Trials showed how it’s possible, especially when race is involved, to convince a jury to ignore the obvious evidence. But in Magione’s case, Friedman-Agnifilo knows she’s going through all the procedural motions to get evidence tossed out. But no matter how much evidence is tossed out, there’s stil plendy evidence of guilt. So, when it comes to defending Luigi, her best defense might be the insanity defense, only because there’s too much collected evidence to not find him guilty of premeditated murder. Defense attorneys can only do so much when the evidence collected is convincing.
Maginone finds himself like a caged animal waiting for his day in court where prosecutors have an airtight case including a murder weapon, video, DNA and manifesto that says he was out to “whack” a health care executive. So, when it comes to Mangione’s defense, it’s a matter of time before he’s convicted of all charges. Judge Carro has already ruled out the death penalty but ruled in the murder weapon and miscellaneous items taken from Mangione’s backpack. Friedman-Agnifilo tried to get evidence tossed out because police did not serve Luigi with a warrant to search his backpack. But police in making an arrest were confronted with an armed-and-dangerous killer, fresh off a murder in Midtown Manhattan. Mangione’s best strategy going into trial is an insanity defense because all other defense options seems so remote at this point.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
