Washington (United States) (AFP) – The federal trial of Luigi Mangione in the killing of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been delayed further to January 2027, according to court documents filed on Thursday. The December 2024 shooting outside of a New York City hotel, captured on security cameras, shocked Americans while highlighting deep public anger over the country’s private, often costly, healthcare system.
Mangione, 27, faces charges in both federal and New York state courts. Both trials were delayed on Wednesday. The state trial, originally scheduled for June, was postponed until September. The federal trial originally scheduled for September was delayed on Wednesday until October and has now been pushed to January 25, 2027.
Mangione’s lawyers requested the delays because they argued the tight turnaround would make it impossible to prepare adequately for both. The scheduling order filed on Thursday by US Judge Margaret Garnett said the decision was made “in light of the…decision in the defendant’s state court case to adjourn the state trial to September 8, 2026.”
Defendants in the United States can be tried at both the state and federal level for the same crime, although the charges tend to differ — as they do for Mangione. In New York court, Mangione is charged with murder. In federal court, he is charged with interstate stalking. Mangione has denied all charges. If convicted in either court, he faces life imprisonment without parole.
Mangione was arrested five days after the shooting, at a McDonald’s in the state of Pennsylvania — some 230 miles (370 kilometers) from the crime scene.
© 2024 AFP
