Shortly after Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to two federal charges in connection with the fatal 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, his lawyers filed a motion arguing that the New York state case against him should be dismissed because of a legal principle known as double jeopardy.
Mangione, who was arrested in December 2024 five days after Thompson was killed in New York City, admitted in federal court on Friday to shooting the healthcare executive.
“I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan,” he told the judge, according to the New York Times.
Read More: Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Fatal Shooting
Mangione wasn’t facing murder charges in the federal case against him; rather, he faced two stalking charges in connection with the shooting, both of which he pleaded guilty to. Each of the charges carries a possible life sentence. He is set to be sentenced in federal court on Dec. 18.
In New York state court, meanwhile, he has been charged with multiple counts, including second-degree murder—all of which he has pleaded not guilty to.
His state trial was set to begin on Sept. 8, but has effectively been pushed back after the judge overseeing the case said the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has to respond to the motion filed by Mangione’s lawyers by Oct. 9. The next hearing for the state case is now set for Dec. 10.
Here’s what to know about double jeopardy, and what Mangione’s lawyers argued in their recent filing calling for the state charges to be dismissed.
What is double jeopardy?
The Fifth Amendment, which lays out several key legal rights, includes a clause establishing a constitutional protection known as double jeopardy: “nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” In other words, an individual can’t be prosecuted for the same crime twice.
In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is possible for a person to be prosecuted for the same conduct in both federal and state court because the federal and state governments are independent entities. But the state of New York offers defendants strong double jeopardy protections; in New York, a prior conviction—either through a guilty plea or a guilty verdict after a trial—for the same offense typically triggers double jeopardy.
Why are Mangione’s lawyers arguing that the state case should be dropped?
Mangione previously pleaded not guilty to all the federal and state charges levied against him, and his lawyers have not publicly disclosed why the 28-year-old chose to change his plea in the federal case. But after the hearing on Friday, his lawyers announced that they had filed the motion claiming double jeopardy.
“It was a single tragic event, yet he’s being prosecuted twice for the same conduct,” Karen Friedman Agnifilo, one of Mangione’s lawyers, told reporters on Friday.
In the motion, his lawyers argue that Mangione’s federal guilty plea “‘terminates’ the federal proceeding” and is now considered to be a “previous prosecution,” meaning that the New York state case would be a “second prosecution,” triggering double jeopardy.
His lawyers also allege in the filing that the Justice Department and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office coordinated their cases against Mangione so that the state would go to trial first “to ensure dual successive prosecutions, in order to attempt to avoid double jeopardy protections.” They allege that this effort was meant “to maximize the punitive effectiveness of the two cases at the expense of Mr. Mangione,” which in turn “undercuts the separate sovereign rationale of the federal double jeopardy jurisprudence.”
“Simply put, if two sovereigns agree on a plan to prosecute two criminal cases charging the same exact criminal event—in this case a single murder—so as to maximize each of their chances of gaining convictions and achieving the greatest degree of punishment, they are acting as a single sovereign, one prosecuting the same man twice for the same event,” they wrote.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a statement shared on X on Friday that it “has been tirelessly preparing to pursue a trial conviction” in the case since December 2024 and that it was prepared to proceed with its case.
“While federal sentencing is pending, we are prepared to litigate the defense motions,” the office said. “The Manhattan D.A.’s Office remains committed to seeking justice for Mr. Thompson and his family.”