Luigi Mangione gets stuck in an elevator as judge delays his federal trial until January

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s federal trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will now begin in January instead of the fall, a judge said Monday at a hearing that started late because Mangione got stuck in a courthouse elevator.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she was postponing the federal trial so Mangione’s lawyers can focus on his state murder trial, which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8.

Jury selection in the federal case will begin on Jan. 5, instead of Oct. 13, followed by opening statements and testimony on Jan. 25, instead of Nov. 4, Garnett said at a hearing in Manhattan.

Garnett said she will not release the questionnaire that prospective jurors will be required to fill out until after the panel is chosen. Having it circulating online for months before jury selection “would only make what promises to be a difficult task more difficult,” she said.

Wearing a beige jail suit, Mangione looked bemused as a pair of deputy U.S. Marshals led him into the courtroom about 20 minutes after the hearing was supposed to start. He briefly gazed at the courtroom gallery, where about two dozen of his supporters were sitting.

“Mangione was late due to elevator problems,” the court said in a statement.

It was the second mishap involving Mangione’s arrival to a court hearing in recent weeks.

A June 16 hearing in the state case was delayed a day after prosecutors failed to inform his jail that he was needed in court.

Garnett said she had hoped “with perhaps undue optimism” to hold the federal trial in the fall but that “we can no longer wait to see what happens” in the state case.

“In my view it’s simply impossible to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully occupied by conducting the state trial,” Garnett said.

Mangione’s lawyers declined to comment to reporters afterward.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. He could spend his life in prison if convicted in either case.

The 28-year-old Ivy League graduate appeared energetic and engaged during Monday’s brief hearing. He watched intently at times, knitting his fingers and resting his chin on them.

He spoke animatedly with his lawyers, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, before the proceeding began, gesturing with his hands as he sat between them at the defense table.

Mangione’s federal charges allege that he traveled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Thompson. He’s accused of using a cellphone, the internet and interstate highways, among other means, while planning and carrying out the attack, as well as staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers.

At a hearing in the state case in February, Mangione spoke out against the prospect of two trials, telling the judge: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

Mangione’s lawyers had argued that back-to-back trials on a compressed timeline would violate his constitutional rights.

Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.

Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

In January, Garnett took the death penalty off the table but ruled that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.

They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to “wack” an insurance executive.

Earlier this month, Mangione’s lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case, but reversed course a day later. The defense, involving claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing, isn’t allowed in federal court.

Mangione has become a cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry.

An online fundraiser for his legal defense fund has raised more than $1.5 million and his court appearances have attracted a cadre of supporters, some of whom have worn “FREE LUIGI” T-shirts and green clothing — the color worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi.