Overview

• In a Saturday filing in Manhattan federal court, Luigi Mangione’s attorneys moved to dismiss the firearm-murder count that carries potential capital punishment, arguing the alleged predicate offense of stalking is not a crime of violence.
• The defense also asked the court to exclude Mangione’s statements and backpack contents, asserting he was questioned without Miranda warnings and that officers searched the bag without a warrant.
• Prosecutors charged the case under a federal statute for murders committed with firearms during other crimes of violence, which is the only route to the death penalty given New York law.
• U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi previously directed prosecutors to seek capital punishment, and U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett has not yet ruled on defense efforts to bar it.
• Mangione has pleaded not guilty, remains held without bail after his arrest on a tip at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and investigators reported ammunition at the scene marked “delay, deny, depose,” while a state judge last month dismissed two top terrorism counts in the separate state case.