State prosecutors argue Luigi Mangione’s ‘different crimes’ mean double jeopardy doesn’t apply to him

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Luigi Mangione should go to trial in state court for fatally shooting United Healthcare’s CEO because murder “has nothing to do” with the federal stalking charges he pleaded guilty to in August, Manhattan prosecutors said in a court filing Friday.

“The stark differences in the definitions between these federal and state statutes thus demonstrate the different purposes of the two regimes,” wrote Joel Seidemann, the lead prosecutor for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Mangione’s attorneys have asked New York State Judge Gregory Carro to dismiss the state murder and weapons charges, arguing under the state’s double jeopardy laws he can’t be prosecuted twice for the same crime. Mangione pleaded guilty to two federal stalking charges in August and admitted he traveled to New York “with the intent to shoot Brian Thompson.”

Seidemann argued murder and stalking are different crimes and double jeopardy wouldn’t apply. To bolster his argument, he cited arguments Mangione’s lawyers used to convince the federal judge to throw out federal murder and weapons charges, which took the death penalty off the table.

Manhattan District Attorney's Office

CNN obtains new bodycam footage of Luigi Mangione’s arrest

The federal murder charge is predicated on being carried out through a violent crime that must also be charged in the indictment. Mangione’s legal team successfully argued at the time the two underlying stalking charges in the federal indictment are not violent crimes.

The DA’s office argues that defense argument proves the state’s second-degree murder charge – a violent felony – is inherently different from his federal stalking conviction. Specifically, prosecutors argued proving a defendant’s intent is necessary to support a state murder charge, but it is not required to prove federal stalking charges.

“In a nutshell, the essence of federal stalking or cyberstalking has nothing to do with murder, and the essence of state murder has nothing to do with stalking or cyberstalking: different harms, different evils, different purposes, different crimes,” Seidemann wrote. The state law, he said, “permits the continued prosecution of defendant’s state murder charge.”

The state weapons charges should also proceed, according to prosecutors, because US District Judge Margaret Garnett had already tossed the firearms charge from Mangione’s federal indictment before he pleaded guilty, so he was never “separately prosecuted” for that conduct.

The district attorney’s office asked that, if Carro does dismiss any charges, he does so without prejudice so state prosecutors can refile an indictment against Mangione if his federal conviction is overturned or otherwise undone on appeal after his December sentencing.

Prosecutors also rejected Mangione’s suggestion that he couldn’t put forward a defense to the state case – potentially that he suffered from an extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the shooting – because it could be used against him in the federal trial where a psychological defense is not allowed.

“The evidence in this case incontrovertibly establishes that this was a long-premeditated and well-choreographed killing,” prosecutors wrote.

Mangione, 28, was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in December 2024, ending a dayslong manhunt after Thompson was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan.

Authorities said they found key evidence inside Mangione’s backpack that linked him to the shooting, including a 3D-printed gun that matched shell casings from the crime scene and a notebook with writings expressing animosity toward the healthcare industry and an intent to commit an attack.

Friday’s filing said prosecutors with the DA’s office traveled to Altoona the same day Mangione was arrested. Over five days prosecutors presented evidence and called 25 witnesses to a New York grand jury to obtain an indictment.

The case has attracted national attention and put a spotlight on some Americans’ frustrations with the healthcare system, as Mangione has seen an outpouring of support from devoted followers who sympathize with Mangione’s cause.

Sketch artist details moments in court as Mangione admits guilt in fatal shooting of insurance CEO

The potential double jeopardy argument permeated pretrial court hearings, with prosecutors suggesting the defense was using delay tactics to invoke double jeopardy.

Mangione’s lawyers repeatedly raised concerns about the dual prosecutions, arguing their client was being unfairly tried twice for the same crime. Mangione himself even mentioned the issued during an outburst at a state hearing in February: “Same trial twice. One plus one equals two. Double jeopardy by any common sense definition,” he said as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

State prosecutors were adamant their trial start first because if it followed the federal trial, their case could be thrown out on double jeopardy grounds. The courts ultimately settled on a September start date for the state trial followed by the federal trial in January 2027.

But in August, Mangione confessed to the killing and pleaded guilty to two stalking charges, staving off the federal trial. His legal team immediately filed a motion to toss out much of the state’s case on double jeopardy grounds, prompting the judge to effectively postpone the state trial while the parties litigate the issues.

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曼哈顿检察官周五在一份法庭文件中表示，路易吉·曼吉奥内应该因枪杀联合健康保险公司首席执行官而在州法院接受审判，因为谋杀与他在 8 月份承认的联邦跟踪指控“毫无关系”。

“联邦和州法律在定义上的显著差异表明了这两个制度的不同目的，”曼哈顿地区检察官办公室首席检察官乔尔·塞德曼写道。

曼吉奥内的律师已请求纽约州法官格雷戈里·卡罗驳回州级谋杀和武器指控，理由是根据该州的双重危险法，他不能因同一罪行被起诉两次。曼吉奥内于8月承认两项联邦跟踪罪名，并承认他前往纽约“意图枪杀布莱恩·汤普森”。

塞德曼辩称，谋杀和跟踪是不同的罪行，因此不应适用双重危险原则。为了佐证自己的观点，他引用了曼吉奥内的律师用来说服联邦法官驳回联邦谋杀和武器指控的论点，这些指控使得曼吉奥内免于死刑。

曼哈顿地区检察官办公室

CNN获得了路易吉·曼吉奥内被捕时的最新执法记录仪视频。

联邦谋杀指控的前提是，谋杀行为必须通过暴力犯罪实施，而该暴力犯罪也必须在起诉书中列明。当时，曼吉奥内的律师团队成功辩称，联邦起诉书中两项相关的跟踪指控并非暴力犯罪。

地方检察官办公室辩称，辩方的论点证明，州政府提出的二级谋杀指控（一项暴力重罪）与联邦跟踪罪的定罪本质上截然不同。具体而言，检方认为，证明被告的犯罪意图是州政府谋杀指控的必要条件，但并非联邦跟踪罪指控的必要条件。

“简而言之，联邦层面的跟踪或网络跟踪的本质与谋杀无关，而州级谋杀的本质也与跟踪或网络跟踪无关：危害不同，罪恶不同，目的不同，罪行也不同，”塞德曼写道。他表示，州法律“允许继续对被告提起州级谋杀指控”。

检察官认为，州级武器指控也应该继续进行，因为美国地区法官玛格丽特·加内特在曼吉奥内认罪之前就已经从联邦起诉书中驳回了枪支指控，所以他从未因该行为“单独受到起诉”。

地方检察官办公室要求，如果卡罗撤销任何指控，他必须以不带偏见的方式进行，以便州检察官可以在曼吉奥内 12 月被判刑后，如果联邦定罪被推翻或以其他方式撤销，重新对他提起诉讼。

检察官还驳斥了曼吉奥内的说法，即他不能对州级案件进行辩护——他可能声称自己在枪击事件发生时患有极度情绪紊乱——因为这可能会在联邦审判中被用来对他不利，而联邦审判不允许心理辩护。

检察官写道：“本案的证据无可辩驳地表明，这是一起经过长期预谋和精心策划的谋杀案。”

2024 年 12 月，28 岁的曼吉奥内 (Mangione) 在宾夕法尼亚州阿尔图纳的一家麦当劳被捕，结束了汤普森在曼哈顿中城被枪杀后长达数天的追捕。

当局表示，他们在曼吉奥内的背包里发现了与枪击案有关的关键证据，包括一把与犯罪现场弹壳相匹配的 3D 打印枪支，以及一本笔记本，上面写着对医疗保健行业的敌意和意图实施袭击的内容。

周五提交的文件显示，地方检察官办公室的检察官在曼吉奥内被捕当天就前往了阿尔图纳。在接下来的五天里，检察官向纽约大陪审团提交了证据，并传唤了25名证人，以获得起诉书。

该案件引起了全国的关注，并凸显了一些美国人对医疗保健系统的不满，因为曼吉奥内得到了众多忠实追随者的支持，他们同情曼吉奥内的事业。

素描艺术家描绘了曼吉奥内承认枪杀保险公司首席执行官的庭审瞬间

在审前法庭听证会上，检方提出了双重危险的潜在争议，认为辩方正在使用拖延战术来援引双重危险原则。

曼吉奥内的律师多次对双重起诉提出质疑，认为他们的当事人因同一罪行被不公正地审判了两次。曼吉奥内本人甚至在二月份的一次州级听证会上情绪激动地提到了这个问题：“同样的审判要进行两次。一加一等于二。按照任何常识的定义，这都是双重危险。”说完，他被戴上手铐带出了法庭。

州检察官坚持要求州检察官的审判先于联邦审判，因为如果州检察官的审判在联邦审判之后进行，他们的案件可能会因双重危险原则而被驳回。最终，法院裁定州检察官的审判于9月开始，联邦检察官的审判则定于2027年1月开始。

但8月，曼吉奥内承认了杀人罪行，并对两项跟踪罪名认罪，从而避免了联邦审判。他的律师团队立即以双重危险原则为由，提出动议驳回州检察官的大部分指控，促使法官实际上推迟了州检察官的审判，以便双方就相关问题进行诉讼。