Feds won't fight dismissal of death penalty-eligible Mangione charges | amNewYork

"The government writes, in accordance with the court's instructions at the pretrial conference on Jan. 30, 2026, to inform the court that the Department of Justice will not seek interlocutory review of the court's order entered that same day dismissing counts three and four of the indictment."

"U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett of the Southern District of New York scheduled the federal case to begin jury selection in September, with trial starting in October in the now-realized event it was not a capital case. The federal judge said she would not coordinate the timeline with state prosecutors unless they reached out to her directly."

"A week later, Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro set a start date of June 8 for the state case, but he said that he'd push it back to Sept. 8 the same date federal jury selection is currently set to begin if the federal government would do the same, essentially letting the state trial go first."

Luigi Mangione, 27, faces federal and state charges in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in late 2024. Federal prosecutors filed a single-sentence statement declining to challenge a judge's order dismissing two death penalty-eligible counts from the federal indictment. The federal case, scheduled for jury selection in September with trial in October, will no longer be a capital case. Meanwhile, state prosecutors set a trial start date of June 8, with potential adjustment to September 8 to align with federal jury selection. Tension exists between federal and state courts regarding trial coordination and scheduling priorities.

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