Luigi Mangione’s state and federal trials stemming from the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson were pushed further into the fall, after judges adjusted their calendars in the Manhattan proceedings, court officials said. New York State Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro delayed the state trial from June 8 to Sept. 8, hours after federal Judge Margaret Garnett changed the timing for the federal matter’s jury selection.
Carro’s state trial rescheduling came after Garnett moved jury selection in the federal case from Sept. 8 to Oct. 5. Garnett also set federal opening statements and testimony to begin on Oct. 26, according to court proceedings reported by the Associated Press. Garnett told the court that her scheduling decision accounted for the fact that the state murder trial was then scheduled for June, and she acknowledged the federal timetable could shift again if the state case were delayed.
Garnett rejected a defense request to postpone the federal case until January or February 2027. Her decision meant the federal trial would follow the state trial by roughly less than a month, with prosecutors and defense lawyers preparing overlapping phases of a prosecution that carries similar allegations and involves witnesses in both cases. Mangione’s lawyers argued that running the prosecutions back to back on a tight schedule would violate his constitutional rights.
At Wednesday’s hearing, federal prosecutors opposed an additional federal delay, warning that witnesses are harder to locate and that memories fade with time. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Gentile told the court that at least one witness would be traveling from abroad. Gentile also pointed to the amount of time the defense has had to prepare and said both cases involve the same allegations and witnesses, according to the reporting.
Carro, meanwhile, addressed the logic of sequencing the state trial after the federal case. The judge did not provide additional detail on Wednesday’s decision to move the state trial to September, but the court’s calendar raised issues that defendants have previously cited. In February, Mangione, through counsel, argued in court that the situation amounted to trying the same case twice, and he raised concerns related to double jeopardy, an argument that centers on when a prior prosecution has progressed enough—such as when a jury has been sworn or a guilty plea is entered—to trigger constitutional protections.
The timing of the rescheduled prosecutions reflects earlier rulings in the federal case that removed the death-penalty option. In January, Garnett dismissed a federal murder charge that would have allowed prosecutors to seek capital punishment, finding it legally flawed. She also dismissed a gun charge but left stalking charges in place, which can carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, the AP report said.
Mangione, 27, pleaded not guilty and faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted in either the state or federal matter. Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference, according to the report. Police said surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind, and they reported that the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition.
The case has been geographically and procedurally linked across two jurisdictions. Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania—about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of Manhattan. His lawyers have argued that the arrest and subsequent public handling prejudiced him, including by describing it as a spectacle, and by citing prosecutors’ stated intention to seek the death penalty before he was indicted.