An attorney has said that jury selection may be very difficult in Luigi Mangione’s murder trial as there is so much public sympathy for the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Neama Rahmani, who was a federal prosecutor in California, said that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will have to be very careful during the jury selection process.
“I’ve never seen an alleged murderer receive so much sympathy. To many people, Mangione is a hero of sorts,” Rahmani said.
Rahmani, now president of West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm in California, said that prosecutors must look out for pro-Mangione sympathizers who may try to get on the jury.
“District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is going to have to weed out ‘stealth jurors’ during voir dire. They may want to acquit to send a message to health insurance companies,” he said.
Voir Dire is the process through which prosecution and defense teams ask jurors written and oral questions to assess their sympathies.
Both teams will be given an opportunity to eliminate potential jurors they believe are too sympathetic to the one side or the other.
Why It Matters
On Tuesday, Mangione was charged in New York with first degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.
Under New York law, the terrorism charge can be brought if the act “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping.”
If convicted, 26-year-old Mangione could be facing life imprisonment without parole.
What To Know
The Daily Mail reported on December 10 that online influencers were urging Mangione supporters to get on the jury and return a not-guilty verdict.
This included encouraging young New Yorkers to turn down jury service so that they might be called to sit on the Mangione trial.
Thompson, 50, was shot dead by a masked gunman as he walked alone to his company’s annual investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown at around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, December 4.
Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a McDonald’s customer reportedly alerted an employee after recognizing him from surveillance camera images that the NYPD had publicized.
What People Are Saying
New York attorney, Colleen Kerwick, said that defense lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, will carefully select the jury in the hope of finding pro-Mangione jurors.
“Friedman Agnifilo would ask potential jurors where they reside in Manhattan and where they get their news sources from to determine their political leanings,” Kerwick said.
“She would also ask whether they were involved in particular protests or campaigns, to determine whether they would empathize with activism, and whether they have an invisible disability, or work in healthcare, to determine if they would be sympathetic to the cause or buy an insanity defense or extreme emotional disturbance affirmative defense.”
She said the defense team “will want younger jurors who will identify with Mangione, over his alleged victim.”
Friedman Agnifilo’s spokeswoman told Newsweek on Monday that Friedman Agnifilo would “respectfully decline” to comment on the case.
What Happens Next
A trial date has not yet been set. Having gathered large quantities of forensic evidence, police and prosecutors are now focused on gathering information to back up the terrorism enhancement. This includes talking to Mangione’s family and friends and examining his social media postings. They are looking for evidence that Mangione killed Thompson as a political statement against the perceived injustices of the medical insurance industry.
Last modified: December 19, 2024
