Arabic version: القاضي يستبعد أدلة رئيسية في محاكمة جريمة قتل لويجي مانجيوني

A Manhattan state court judge has ruled that certain items found in Luigi Mangione’s backpack will not be permitted as evidence in his upcoming trial for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Judge Gregory Carro made the decision on 18 May 2025, declaring that the items, including a magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet, and computer chip, were obtained through an improper warrantless search at a McDonald’s location.

According to The Guardian, Judge Carro emphasized that the police did not meet the necessary burden of demonstrating exigent circumstances that would justify the search. He stated, “Even if the backpack could be seen as within the defendant’s control or grabbable area, the People did not meet their burden of demonstrating exigency.”

The judge’s ruling comes just before Mangione’s trial, where he is accused of fatally shooting Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel on 4 December 2024. The defense has argued that police failed to inform Mangione of his constitutional rights upon his arrest at the McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on 9 December 2024.

While the court will exclude the items from the backpack, it will allow prosecutors to present Mangione’s alleged notebook as evidence since it was not opened or searched at the restaurant. Mangione faces multiple charges, including second-degree murder, which could result in a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In a related development, Mangione is also facing charges in a federal court in Manhattan, with that trial set to begin in January 2027. Judge Carro previously dismissed the top two state charges against him, which included first-degree murder and second-degree murder as terrorism crimes, leaving him with nine remaining counts in the state case.