(Corrects headline and paragraph 1 to discuss with Brian Thompson as UnitedHealth govt, not chief govt)
By Jack Queen, Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Luigi Mangione, the person accused of fatally gunning down UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:) govt Brian Thompson on a Manhattan road, pleaded not responsible on Monday to New York state homicide costs that model him a terrorist.
Mangione, 26, was escorted right into a Thirteenth-floor courtoom within the New York state felony courthouse in decrease Manhattan with a court docket officer on every arm, and a procession of a half dozen officers following him. He was in handcuffs and shackles, and wore a burgundy sweater over a white collared shirt.
Mangione leaned right into a microphone and stated “not responsible” when requested how he pleaded to the 11-count indictment, which incorporates three homicide costs, together with homicide as an act of terrorism.
If convicted, he faces a most sentence of life in jail with out the potential for parole.
Monday’s arraignment was the second court docket look in New York for Mangione, 26, since he was arrested at a McDonald’s (NYSE:) restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, 5 days after the brazen, pre-dawn Dec. 4 killing of Thompson exterior a resort in midtown Manhattan the place his firm was gathering for an investor convention.
Mangione additionally faces a four-count federal felony criticism charging him with stalking and killing Thompson. He has not but been requested to enter a plea to these costs. U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose Katharine Parker ordered Mangione detained at a Dec. 19 presentment on these costs.
Greater than two dozen members of the general public sat within the viewers of the courtroom the place Mangione was offered.
A small group of protesters had gathered exterior the decrease Manhattan courthouse in sub-freezing temperatures expressing help for Mangione and anger at healthcare corporations.
One particular person held an indication saying “DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE,” the phrases police say had been discovered etched on shell casings on the crime scene. The phrases echo techniques some accuse insurers of utilizing to keep away from paying out claims.
Whereas the killing of Thompson has been condemned by public officers, Mangione has been feted as a folks hero by some People who decry the steep prices of healthcare and the facility held by insurance coverage corporations to disclaim paying for some medical remedies.
A NOTEBOOK ENTRY
The federal costs would make him eligible for the dying penalty, ought to the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace in Manhattan resolve to pursue it.
The separate federal and state instances will proceed in parallel. The state case is presently anticipated to go to trial first, federal prosecutors stated.
Mangione’s lead lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, stated on the federal court docket listening to that the 2 units of costs gave the impression to be based mostly on conflicting theories. The state costs accuse Mangione of aspiring to “intimidate or coerce a civilian inhabitants” and affect coverage, whereas the federal costs accuse him of stalking and killing a person.
Friedman Agnifilo stated the 2 instances appeared fully completely different, and he or she requested prosecutors to make clear whether or not each would proceed. Dominic Gentile, a federal prosecutor, stated Thursday’s preliminary look was not the suitable time to deal with these authorized arguments.
Based on the federal felony criticism, the police who arrested Mangione discovered a pocket book that contained a number of handwritten pages that “categorical hostility in the direction of the medical health insurance business and rich executives specifically.”
A pocket book entry dated Oct. 22 allegedly described an intent to “wack” the chief govt of an insurance coverage firm at its investor convention.
