Luigi Mangione declared innocent on Friday (25) of federal accusations of shooting at the health insurance executive Brian Thompson, a day after the prosecutors formally declare their intention to ask for the death penalty.
Mangione, 26, was wearing a beige t -shirt provided by prison when he was led to the court in southern Manhattan. Previously, he declared himself innocent of a series of accusations in New York for the murder on December 4 of Thompson, former executive president of UnitedHealth Group United Hand Unit.
He filed the allegation at an audience before Federal District Judge Margaret Garnett.
Thompson shots outside a hotel in downtown Manhattan, where the company gathered for an investor conference, and the subsequent five-day human fighter captivated the Americans.
Authorities say that the words “deny”, “delay” and “dismiss” – a phrase that echo tactics that some accuse health insurers to use to avoid paying compensation – were found written in bullet cases at the crime scene.
Although public officials condemned the murder, some Americans applauded Mangione, saying that he drew attention to the high health costs in the US and the power of health insurers to refuse the payment of some treatments.
To justify their decision to ask for the death penalty, prosecutors wrote in a court document on Thursday night that Mangione “represents a future danger because she expressed the intention to reach an entire industry and mobilize political and social opposition to this industry through an act of lethal violence.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced earlier this month that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty for Mangione. The document presented to the court on Thursday by the Manhattan Public Prosecution Service formalized the intention of the prosecutors.
Mangione’s lawyers said that Bondi’s announcement on April 1 was “admittedly political” and violated government protocols for death penalty decisions.
If Mangione is convicted in the federal case, the jury will determine in a separate phase of the trial whether or not the death penalty is recommended. Any recommendation needs to be unanimous, and the judge must impose it.
Mangione is currently detained in a federal penitentiary in Brooklyn.
This content was originally published in Luigi Mangione declares innocent; Prosecutors seek death penalty in the US at CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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