Judge Rules Key Evidence Admissible in Luigi Mangione Murder Trial

A judge overseeing the state murder trial of Luigi Mangione ruled Monday that prosecutors can use a gun and notebook found in his backpack as evidence, dealing a partial blow to the defense.

Judge Gregory Carro rejected arguments from Mangione's legal team that those items were seized illegally. The judge found that officers conducted a valid inventory search of the backpack at the police station, meaning anything recovered there stays in play.

However, Judge Carro also ruled that several other items, including a loaded magazine, a cellphone, a passport, a wallet, and a computer chip, cannot be used as evidence. Those items were found during an initial search of Mangione's backpack when he was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, which the judge ruled was an improper warrantless search conducted in view of the public and restaurant employees.

Mangione is accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December as Thompson walked to an investors' conference. Thompson was 50 years old and a father of two. Mangione was arrested five days after the shooting.

He has pleaded not guilty to nine state felony charges, including second-degree murder and weapons-related counts, all of which carry the possibility of life in prison. He has also pleaded not guilty in a separate federal case charging him with two counts of stalking, each carrying a maximum sentence of life without parole.

The state trial in Manhattan Criminal Court is tentatively scheduled to begin in September, with a federal trial expected to follow sometime in the fall.