NEW YORK (Court TV) — A New York judge agreed to suppress some evidence against Luigi Mangione in his upcoming murder case, saying that police accessed the items improperly.
Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence hearing, Thursday , Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool Photo via AP)
Mangione, 28, is charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione also faces federal stalking charges in Thompson’s death.
Prosecutors say Mangione shot Thompson outside of a New York City hotel on Dec.4, 2024. On Dec. 9, Mangione was arrested after he was spotted eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Mangione’s defense had sought to suppress evidence that was found in his backpack at the time of his arrest, arguing that officers searched his property illegally. In an order handed down on Monday, Supreme Court of New York Justice Gregory Carro ruled that some of the items will remain out of Mangione’s trial, while some will still be fair game.
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While inside the McDonald’s, officers began looking through Mangione’s backpack, saying that they were concerned about the potential for explosive devices. While prosecutors argued the risk of explosives created an exigency that would allow for the bag to be searched, Carro noted that the search was done inside the restaurant, in view of customers and employees. “A ‘safety search’ for a possible bomb is inconsistent with this unsafe protocol,” he wrote in his order.
To that end, a loaded magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet, and computer chip found inside the bag during the search at McDonald’s will be suppressed and not shown to the jury.
However, key items found in the backpack after officers brought it to the police station will be allowed at trial. Those items, Carro wrote, were found during a valid inventory search of Mangione’s belongings that was done in line with the Altoona Police Department’s policies and procedures. That means a red notebook and a gun found inside the bag will be evidence for the jury to consider.
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Mangione’s attorneys also asked for statements he made to corrections officers while he was being held in custody to be suppressed. In conversations with one corrections officer, Mangione allegedly discussed the healthcare system and said that he believed people appeared to be “happier in ‘third world countries,’ despite living in poverty.” The judge said those statements would be allowed in as evidence because they were voluntary statements made as part of a conversation; the corrections officer said he was not interrogating the defendant.
Mangione’s New York trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8, with his federal trial scheduled to have jury voir dire in January 2027.
