Luigi Mangione's defense lawyer from Pennsylvania has argued that his client was unlawfully detained for the murder of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson and has said that his writings railing against the healthcare industry are not a "manifesto" but are just a journal about his grievances with the healthcare system.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with the murder of Thompson after he allegedly shot the CEO at point-blank range in New York City, where the suspect, wearing a hoodie, then ran from the scene. When Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and police officers looked through his backpack, they obtained the alleged manifesto which the lawyer has claimed is actually a journal.
“The use of this characterization of the defendant’s alleged personal experiences and writings is incorrect, improper and without justification and has no probative value,” attorney Thomas Dickey wrote in a court filing on Tuesday, per Fox News. “Defendant believes that this characterization was done so solely for the purpose to prejudice the defendant and put him in a negative light before the public, all in an effort to prejudice any potential jury pool.”
The shooting took place outside a Manhattan hotel during the company's annual shareholder conference, and bullet casings were found at the scene with the words "delay," "deny," and "depose" written on them. Each bullet had one word, and many of them connected them to different strategies that health insurance companies use in order to deny claims.
In the writings, Mangione railed against the healthcare industry, with UnitedHealthcare being named specifically as well as the shareholder conference Thompson was attending where Mangione allegedly murdered the CEO.
The lawyer has asked that the court not label the writings a "manifesto" and has argued that other evidence that was obtained at the McDonalds should not be put into evidence, arguing that he was not properly detained.
