Is the case against Luigi starting to fall apart?

[Justice Brandeis]

Laying aside the politics, it doesn't seem like the evidence that he is the killer is all that compelling.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/09/16/accused-ceo-killer-luigi-mangione-court-appearance/86164846007/?csp=chromepush

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, briefly appeared at a Manhattan courthouse on Sept. 16, where a judge swiftly dismissed two of the terrorism-related state charges against him.

Mangione, 27, faced nearly a dozen charges in New York state court, for allegedly shooting Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4, 2024. New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro dismissed the charges of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism shortly after Mangione was led into the lower Manhattan courtroom handcuffed and with shackles on his feet, wearing tan prison garb. Mangione remains charged with murder in the second degree.

more

[Ocelot II]

1. They seem to have strong evidence that he did it.

They found a "ghost gun" similar to the weapon used in the shooting and a handwritten note indicating his motivation when he was finally busted.

[Tommy Carcetti]

2. No.

The judge simply ruled that the alleged crimes did not meet the definition of terrorism and therefore dismissed those charges.

The murder charges aren't affected.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Agreed. Can't universally equate murder with

terrorism or a hate crime.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. No, but you seem to be on a first name basis with him.

Do you applaud or condemn him?

Dismissing terrorism charges does not mean he won't be convicted of murder. Falling apart? Hardly. It means that he was overcharged.

[Silent Type]

5. Thye've got the evidence to convict him. Maybe terrorism charges were too much, but he did it AND he killed someone

that had absolutely nothing to do with his situation.

Luigi got care, never had a denied claim, wasn't insured by UHC, etc. If Luigi had a beef with anyone, it was doctors who couldn't do anything for his nerve damage.

Hope they convict him, just like the shooter of white winger Kirk.

[Iggo]

6. The knee-jerk over-charging bullshit is falling away.

But the main charge…that he killed a guy…is still pretty strong.

[EdmondDantes_]

9. Would that it do so in all cases

Overcharging to push defendants into taking a plea seems really sketchy to me

[LeftInTX]

10. No, because w/o the terrorism charges, he is only eligible for a 15-20 year sentence.

NY state has unique murder laws. If he had murdered someone during torture, sexual violence, gang activity, etc, he would have been eligible for a life sentence. Pre-meditated murder in NY is not first degree. It requires other factors. Terrorism is one of them.


Plain old murder in NY is only 15-20 years.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/125.27

[EdmondDantes_]

17. Then change the law if you think by default the minimum sentence should be longer

Tacking on irrelevant additional charges that don't fit the case to get a longer sentence or to strong arm someone into taking a plea deal because life in prison is overwhelming, doesn't further justice. The goal of a criminal justice shouldn't be just to put people in prison for as long as possible in my opinion.

[Patton French]

7. LOL

Uh, no.

[LeftInTX]

8. The terrorism charges were added so that Luigi could get a life sentence.

After dropping the terrorism charges, he can only get a 15-20 years or something like that.

I'm glad they were eliminated now versus being found not-guilty in court.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. No, this case was over-charged with crimes that the prosecution could not prove at trial

Luigi will still be convicted but may not get the death penalty under NY state law

[LeftInTX]

13. I think it's 20 years. NY does not have the death penalty. They wanted a life sentence.

His case is no longer first-degree murder.

Premediated murder is not first-degree in New York.

Here is what qualifies for first-degree.
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/125.27

Luigi just didn't fit the criteria, so they tried terrorism (xiii)
I'm glad the charges were removed now. I didn't think a jury would buy it.

[Dave says]

16. I could be wrong, but ...

… there is no death penalty under NYS law. ??

[SickOfTheOnePct]

12. The video is pretty compelling n/t

[GJGCA]

14. Federal terrorism charges still possible? (NT)

[LeftInTX]

18. They never were possible! Federal only has International Terrorism. Even Timothy McVeigh and Boston Bomber

weren't charged with terrorism. Boston Bomber was charged with murder and weapon of mass destruction.

Luigi has been charged with federal cyberstalking in addition to murder.

[Kaleva]

15. No

[LetMyPeopleVote]

19. Deadline Legal Blog-Why a New York state judge dismissed terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione

Justice Gregory Carro deemed two terrorism-related murder charges as legally insufficient but approved a remaining, straightforward murder charge.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/luigi-mangione-terrorism-charges-dismissed-murder-new-york-rcna231643

Luigi Mangione has gotten two of the murder counts against him dismissed in his New York state case but still faces another one, on top of federal charges that carry the possibility of capital punishment. In the state case, Justice Gregory Carro ruled Tuesday that it was legally insufficient to bring two terrorism-related murder charges but said that remaining charges can go forward, including a count of intentional murder.

So it’s a qualified win for Mangione, 27, that still has him facing the possibility of dying in prison if he is convicted, as he also faces separate federal charges in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Tuesday’s ruling nonetheless cuts against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case in the way that Bragg sought to shape it, even if the practical consequence of the dismissal could be slight in the end, especially in light of the separate federal case that carries the potential threat of execution. New York’s state system doesn’t have the death penalty, but the federal system does......

Noting that the terrorism charges brought against Mangione involve proving the defendant intended to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population,” Carro wrote that he didn’t think the state Legislature “intended the employees of a company, however large, to constitute a ‘civilian population’ within the meaning of the statute.” The judge went on to write that even if he were to find the employees constituted such a population, “there was no evidence presented that defendant’s conscious objective or intent was to intimidate or coerce the employees of United Healthcare.”

Rather, the judge wrote, Mangione’s apparent objective was “to draw attention to what he perceived as the greed of the insurance industry” and “as an additional possible consequence, to negatively affect the financials of the company.” The judge wrote that Bragg’s office “presented sufficient evidence that the defendant murdered Brian Thompson in a premeditated and calculated execution. That does not mean, however, that the defendant did so with terroristic intent.”

[Renew Deal]

20. No, but I think the terrorism charge could have blown up the trial.

He was overcharged because of the zeal of the prosecutors. Getting rid of that charge probably helps the overall case.