Luigi Mangione's New York state murder trial will not begin in September. A judge delayed it to December 10 after Mangione's defense team moved to dismiss the case entirely.
The delay follows Mangione's guilty plea last week to federal charges in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. After entering that plea, his defense filed a 32-page motion arguing that proceeding with the state case would violate New York's double jeopardy law. The motion called Mangione "a pawn in parallel prosecutions."
The judge asked prosecutors to respond to the motion by October 9. The defense will have until October 30 to reply. The state trial had been scheduled to start September 8.
Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges of interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death. In the New York case, he faces second-degree murder, weapons, and forgery charges. A prior first-degree murder charge was thrown out last year.
Legal experts say the double jeopardy argument faces real obstacles. New York's double jeopardy statute is considered more generous to defendants than the federal standard. The state law bars successive prosecutions for the same course of conduct and same acts. But prosecutors argue a carve-out in state law applies when the elements of the crimes differ significantly.
CBS News contributor and Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson explained both sides of the dispute. "The defense is going to argue that the federal stalking charges and the state murder charges are based on the same set of conduct and the same set of facts," Levinson said. "The prosecution is going to say, 'But wait, there's a carve-out in state law.' And those exceptions deal with situations where the elements of the crimes, the elements of federal stalking versus the elements of the state murder charge, are substantially different."
Levinson added that the outcome is genuinely uncertain. "They have a live argument. There is a vigorous double jeopardy statute in New York state. It's very liberal. New York state does not let you retry somebody for the same activity. But there's an argument here that the federal stalking charges are different than the New York state intentional murder charge. They have different elements. They have a different focus."
The Manhattan District Attorney's office said previously it has been "tirelessly preparing to pursue a trial conviction" and was "prepared to litigate the defense motions [to dismiss]."
Justice Gregory Carro is presiding over the state case and will make the final call on whether double jeopardy applies. Either side can appeal his ruling, which could push the timeline even further.
