"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 the Trump 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," his lawyers argued in a court filing. Mangione's defense team, led by former Manhattan prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo,"
"Bondi announced in April that she was directing Manhattan federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione. It was the first time the Justice Department said it was bringing a capital case after President Donald Trump returned to office Jan. 20 with a pledge to revive federal executions, which his predecessor Biden had put on hold. Mangione's lawyers argue that Bondi's announcement - which she followed with Instagram posts and a TV appearance - showed the decision was "based on politics, not merit""
Defense lawyers urged a judge to bar federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arguing authorities prejudiced the case by sensationalizing Mangione's arrest and publicly expressing a desire to see him executed. The defense pointed to Pam Bondi's pre-indictment declaration that capital punishment was warranted for a "premeditated, cold-blooded assassination," a highly choreographed perp walk, and alleged flouting of established death penalty procedures. The team, led by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, asked Judge Margaret Garnett to prevent the case from proceeding as a death penalty prosecution, saying politics, not merit, drove the decision.
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