Luigi Mangione has avoided the death penalty.
The 27-year-old, who allegedly killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024, will not be facing the death penalty, a federal district judge ruled Friday (January 30).
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Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the murder charge as it requires that the killing was committed during another “crime of violence,” CNN reports.
The U.S. District Judge ruled stalking is not a crime of violence.
“No one could seriously question that this is violent criminal conduct,” she wrote in her opinion, but the U.S. Supreme Court requires her to analyze the allegations in a way that is “totally divorced from the conduct at issue,” per ABC.
Prosecutors tried to argue that the other crimes of violence were the two stalking charges, but the judge didn’t agree, dismissing two counts in his federal case: murder, and a related firearm offense.
The murder charge was the only count in his federal indictment that could have possibly led to the death penalty.
The two counts of stalking remain, and if convicted, he could still face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
The judge also ruled to allow evidence recovered from his backpack at the time of his arrest, including a handgun and loaded magazine, to be presented during the trial, which his lawyers have tried to stop by arguing that the search was illegal without a warrant.
Jury selection starts September 8, with opening statements planned for October 13.
Find out what just happened to Luigi Mangione in jail.
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