NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors in New York signaled in a letter to the court Friday that they would not appeal a judge’s decision that removed the death penalty from consideration in the case against Luigi Mangione.
This means the federal trial is expected to begin this fall with jury selection in September.
In late January, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the death-eligible counts from Mangione’s federal indictment. “Tortured and strange,” though she said her conclusion may be, Garnett ruled stalking is not a crime of violence and, therefore, not a predicate to make the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson a capital crime.
Garnett had given federal prosecutors a deadline of this Friday to decide whether to appeal.
In their letter to Garnett on Friday, prosecutors informed the court that “the Department of Justice will not seek interlocutory review of the Court’s Order” dismissing the counts.
The defense wanted the death penalty taken off the table, arguing that stalking “fails to qualify as a crime of violence” and therefore cannot be the predicate to make Mangione eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted of the federal charges. The defense also argued that the decision to seek the death penalty was political and circumvented the federal government’s protocols.
Mangione, who is accused of stalking and killing Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in December 2024, has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges.
Garnett said jury selection in the federal case will begin on Sept. 8 and opening statements on Oct. 13.
He is due to stand trial in state court beginning June 8.
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