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Justice Department officials could face court-imposed sanctions for public comments about the prosecution of Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson if they don’t limit what they say, a New York judge said Wednesday.
Judge Margaret M. Garnett in Manhattan said in an order that statements by government officials about Mangione possibly facing the death penalty may have violated a local rule meant to limit public comments to ensure a fair trial.
Defense lawyers for Mangione had asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of the comments.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the fatal shooting of Thompson on Dec. 4 as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
In the federal case, Mangione is charged with murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, as well as stalking and gun offenses.
Defense lawyers argued in a written submission to Garnett that Justice Department officials poisoned the case when U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi declared prior to his April indictment that capital punishment is warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.” Bondi announced in April that she was directing Manhattan federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.
His lawyers argued that Bondi’s statements and other official actions — including a highly choreographed perp walk that saw Mangione led up a Manhattan pier by armed officers, and President Donald Trump’s administration’s flouting of established death penalty procedures — “have violated Mr. Mangione’s constitutional and statutory rights and have fatally prejudiced this death penalty case.”
In her order Wednesday, Garnett said it appeared that multiple Justice Department employees may have violated the rule limiting what can be said publicly about a case prior to trial. She said the statements apparently were made by two high-ranking staff members in the department.
The judge asked the department to explain how the violations occurred and what steps are being taken to ensure no future violations happen.
“Future violations may result in sanctions, which could include personal financial penalties, contempt of court findings, or relief specific to the prosecution of this matter,” the judge wrote.
A message for comment sent to the Justice Department was not immediately returned.
The order from Garnett was not the first time a Manhattan federal judge has scolded Justice Department officials for public statements in a criminal case.
In April 2015, Judge Valerie Caproni accused then-U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of straying “so close to the edge of the rules governing his own conduct” when he announced a corruption case against former Democratic New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver that Silver had a legitimate complaint that the “media blitz” that accompanied his arrest was prejudicial.
Silver was eventually convicted on corruption charges and was sentenced to over six years in prison. In January 2022, the federal Bureau of Prisons announced that he had died in federal custody at age 77.
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