Luigi Mangione Seeks Bar on Death Penalty in Federal Case

Luigi Mangione is scheduled to appear in federal court Friday as his lawyers ask a judge to bar the Justice Department from seeking the death penalty in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson following his arrest in connection with the 2024 Manhattan shooting.Defense attorneys say law enforcement and media handling prejudiced the case, alleging authorities turned his arrest into a "Marvel movie spectacle" and that Pam Bondi has a conflict because of prior work at Ballard Partners, which represents clients connected to UnitedHealthcare’s parent company.Federal prosecutors called those claims "meritless and misleading," opposed a separate evidentiary hearing to exclude items seized from a backpack at his Altoona arrest that included a ghost gun, and a state judge last year dismissed terror-related murder charges while other state and federal counts remain pending.