Luigi Mangione’s Legal Team Ditches New Strategy One Day After Announcing It
Luigi Mangione’s attorneys were reportedly planning to present a “psychiatric defense” of their client at his murder trial, arguing Mangione did kill Thompson, but did so under extreme emotional disturbance.
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Mangione’s attorneys announced their strategy Wednesday. On Thursday, they withdrew their intention to use a psychiatric defense in a one-sentence court filing. (RELATED: Luigi Mangione Reportedly Poised To Move Forward With Extreme Emotional Disturbance Defense)
“The defense respectfully withdraws CPL 250.10 notice at this time,” the defense wrote, according to ABC 7. Section 250.10 of New York State Criminal Procedure consists of the “notice of intent to proffer psychiatric evidence” and “examination of defendant upon application of prosecutor.”
New York Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro, who is overseeing the Manhattan murder trial of Mangione, previously ordered Mangione’s team to share their legal strategy with prosecutors by Thursday.
“[Prosecutors] need to know what the malady is that this defendant suffers and how that triggered an extreme emotional disturbance at the time and place of the occurrence,” said Carro, according to CNN. “Nothing is going to be a surprise. I’m not going to let you surprise the People on the eve of the trial. So, get it done.”
Luigi Mangione (C), accused of the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appears for a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, on June 17, 2026. (Photo by Angelina Katsanis / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Mangione pleaded not guilty to all state and federal charges against him in connection with Thompson’s death, including one count of interstate stalking resulting in death and one count of using a firearm to commit murder.
Had Mangione’s attorneys gone forward with a psychiatric defense, they likely would have urged the jury to convict Mangione of manslaughter, rather than murder.
How should we interpret the defense’s rapid change of heart?
As a colleague suggested, Mangione’s team announced their plans to use a psychiatric defense in order to gauge public appetite for this argument. (RELATED: Suspect Who Allegedly Set Palisades Fire Admired Luigi Mangione, Ranted About Capitalism, Prosecutors Claim)
But testing the waters can backfire, resulting in a tainted jury pool. The knowledge that Mangione’s attorneys were considering admitting their client killed Thompson might be prejudicial.
Alternatively, maybe Mangione’s defense team is a little incompetent. Prosecutors have ample evidence at their disposal, including a detailed timeline of Mangione’s alleged actions in the days prior to Thompson’s death, as outlined by the Department of Justice in 2024. Prosecutors have also alleged that surveillance video shows Mangione shooting Thompson in the early hours of Dec. 4, 2024.
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