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The judge overseeing Luigi Mangione’s case in state court moved that trial date from June 8 to Sept. 8 on Wednesday, the latest potential conflict between the state and federal cases against the accused Ivy League assassin.
Mangione will be back in state court on May 18 for a decision on motions to suppress evidence and statements he made to police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.
He appeared in federal court earlier on Wednesday, when the judge overseeing Mangione’s federal case shrugged off his defense team’s push to have that trial delayed, saying she doesn’t want to be “held hostage” by the schedule of a state court judge handling another case against him.
Jury selection for Mangione’s federal trial is expected to begin in October, but that could potentially be affected by his Judge Gregory Carro’s decision to push the state trial from June to October.
MANGIONE’S LAWYERS MAKE SECOND TRY TO TOSS MURDER WEAPON EVIDENCE IN NEW YORK STATE COURT
A sketch of Luigi Mangione with his attorneys Karen Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo before Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan, New York, on April 1, 2026. A hearing for Mangione is held regarding the 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Jane Rosenberg)
U.S. Marshals escorted Mangione into the federal courtroom at 11:24 a.m. Wednesday. He wore a tan jail jumpsuit with his sleeves rolled up, leg shackles and no handcuffs.
The judge entered a minute later.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, one of Mangione’s lead defense lawyers, asked for several months of extra time, saying Mangione’s legal team needed to prepare for the federal case after his state trial.
“I don’t think what we’re asking for is unreasonable,” she said.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Gentile argued that the defense’s logistical concerns could be addressed by changing the jury questionnaire schedule, which was set for a capital case. Mangione no longer faces the potential death penalty.
He added that both cases are expected to rely on the same facts and witnesses.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is pictured in an undated portrait provided by UnitedHealth. The executive was shot from behind and killed on his way to an investor conference in New York City in what prosecutors have described as a politically motivated assassination. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group via AP)
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Judge Margaret Garnett said she was more concerned about the jury selection process rather than trial prep — telling the parties she doesn’t envision a particularly complex proceeding.
She said her role is to ensure Mangione gets a fair trial in her courtroom, and she said whatever happens in the state case is not her concern.
Luigi Mangione’s attorneys, Jacob Kaplan, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, and Marc Agnifilo arrive to court in Manhattan, New York, on April 1, 2026. A hearing for Mangione is held regarding the 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
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Mangione faces numerous charges at the state and federal level in connection with the December 2024 assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota who was in New York City for a work conference when a gunman snuck up behind him and opened fire.
The state trial, scheduled to take place before his federal trial, is expected to garner massive public attention and make jury selection more difficult, she explained.
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Luigi Mangione supporters outside court in Manhattan, New York, on April 1, 2026. A hearing for Mangione is held regarding the 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
“I’m a little troubled,” she said.
After a roughly 30-minute hearing, she proposed keeping close to the schedule put forth in February, with jury selection in the fall and opening statements on Oct. 26 or Nov. 2.
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Members of the New York police crime scene unit investigate bullets lying on the sidewalk at the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (Stefan Jeremiah/AP)
The federal hearing came just under a month after Carro told Mangione’s defense to be ready for the state trial on June 8. Before his order pushing back the trial on Wednesday, he had floated the idea of delaying it only if the federal trial was delayed first.
Bailiffs escorted Mangione out of that hearing after an unexpected outburst in which he claimed to be the victim of double jeopardy.
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“It’s the same trial twice,” he said. “One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any common sense.”
Both courts have dismissed the most severe counts, but Mangione still faces life in prison if convicted. He also faces lesser charges in Pennsylvania, where police arrested him in a McDonald’s restaurant, in connection with the case.
