Prosecutors Want Luigi Mangione State Trial To Start This Summer

NEW YORK CITY, NY — New York prosecutors want the state trial for Luigi Mangione, the Maryland native accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, to begin this summer, months before he would stand trial in federal court.

Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro in a letter on Wednesday that there is an overriding interest in trying the state case first. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office asked for a trial start date of July 1.

“Federal law supports our request that we proceed first, and our right to a speedy resolution of this case would be severely compromised should the federal trial proceed first,” Seidemann wrote.

Prosecutors raised the scheduling issue days after U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett scheduled jury selection in the federal case for Sept. 8, with the rest of the trial happening in October or January, depending on whether she allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

If the death penalty is still in play, the second phase of the federal trial — including opening statements and testimony — will begin Jan. 11, 2027, Garnett said in court last Friday. If it’s not, it will start Oct. 13.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a slew of state and federal charges, including murder. In September 2025, a judge dropped two state terrorism charges against him.

Mangione's defense lawyers called the July 1 start date "unrealistic."

“As a practical matter, Mr. Mangione’s defense team will require the remainder of the year to prepare for that trial. We will respond to the Court about this unrealistic request in the coming days,” his attorney said in a statement.

Earlier in the week, defense attorneys argued that certain evidence should be excluded due to how it was obtained by law enforcement.

Evidence includes statements Mangione made to police officers when he was apprehended. The 27-year-old's attorney claims police failed to provide Miranda warnings and that they did a warrantless search of his backpack after he was handcuffed. Inside the backpack were a gun with a 3D printed receiver, ammunition and a red notebook.

The Towson native is accused of murdering Thompson in December 2024 outside a Manhattan hotel before leading police on a five-day manhunt, Patch previously reported.

Mangione is a 2016 graduate of Gilman School in Baltimore, an elite all-boys prep school where he was class valedictorian. Mangione is from an affluent business family, who said he seemed to struggle following a back surgery.

Family and friends said Mangione lost contact with them in the months leading up to Thompson's shooting, and Mangione's social media accounts reflected a shift from posts on books he read, workout routines and his travels to a person in pain who was unhappy with the healthcare system.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.