this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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Luigi Mangione is accused of stalking United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and shooting him to death on Dec. 4, 2024.

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[–] Nougat@fedia.io 203 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Solidarity aside, whenever you are arraigned, any lawyer worth their salt will advise you to plead not guilty, because entering a guilty plea means it's over, move on to sentencing, where you have no leverage at all.

You can always change a not guilty plea to a guilty plea later, if a plea deal offered by the prosecution is acceptable to you. This is especially relevant in a case where the death penalty is on the table, but also applies to the possibility of reduced charges or penalties in any case.

I'll also add that this case could well end up with an Alford plea. In short, where the defendant asserts innocence, does not admit to the criminal act, but accepts the sentence because they believe that a jury would find them guilty based on the evidence. Again, this is definitely related to a case where the death penalty is on the table.

[–] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 135 points 1 day ago (8 children)

I'd be very disappointed in any jury who found him guilty

[–] jjagaimo@sh.itjust.works 104 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Having been on a jury,

People are dumb and have no empathy

[–] Palerider@feddit.uk 60 points 1 day ago

~~Having been on a jury~~

People are dumb and have no empathy

[–] BakerBagel@midwest.social 15 points 1 day ago

People might not have empathy, but even less people are going to want to side with an insurance company

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[–] Nougat@fedia.io 29 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Ideally, a jury's responsibility is to weigh the evidence and find whether the evidence supports a guilty verdict beyond a reasonable doubt.

There has been no jury selection yet, let alone presentation of evidence. I would guess that any jury nullification would depend on a defense tactic of "Yes, my client committed this act, and his motive was to prevent UHC from directly causing the deaths of their customers by refusing to honor legitimate claims or by delaying payment of claims." There might be something there, especially since UHC changed its stance on something (I forget exactly what right now) in the wake of their CEO being killed.

But that would be a really difficult defense to mount. You'd basically be admitting to the act and hoping that at least one person on the jury would A) agree with your defense, and B) be willing to hold out over it, and C) not be replaced by an alternate for "failure to follow jury instructions" or some such thing.

Again, since a jury has not even been selected, I won't speculate on what evidence gets presented and what evidence (if any) ends up being excluded. By extension, I cannot agree with your above comment.

Please note that I am also not saying "He's guilty, he should hang", because that would also entail speculating on evidence.

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 20 points 1 day ago

They don't have to say outright that the guy was scum and got what he deserved, just question why the federal charges are being brought while there's a state case and ask questions about how many other people would have a good reason to want this health insurance executive dead. You can introduce the message without abandoning all other defense and saying it explicitly.

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[–] Charlxmagne@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Realistically they'll try arrange one that will. They're going to try secure a guilty verdict by any means necessary to make an example out of him.

[–] ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

That would be the worst thing for them to do, but they're not the brightest.

[–] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

In federal Court the judge has a lot more control in the composition of the jury., they even lead voir dire.

They can pick a jury of all ceos if they want.

[–] raltoid@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That would be a bold choice, and I don't think it would work out well overall. In terms of the public response. And imagine the security, it would be locked down harder than any place in the world.

Although in all seriousness, in a normal setting they might be challenged if they chose an all-CEO jury. You can't fill a jury with the potential target victims of the crime that is being accused. It would not be seen as fair by any stretch of the imagination.

If someone was a accused of targeting very tall men with pink hair, you couldn't fill the jury with people matching that description. Any sane person in the legal business would call them crazy.

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[–] Iheartcheese@lemmy.world 125 points 1 day ago (2 children)

He's guilty of stealing my heart tho

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 58 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why, is he made of cheese?

[–] Iheartcheese@lemmy.world 53 points 1 day ago (1 children)

whatever he's made of id eat the shit out of him.

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[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 116 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] BakerBagel@midwest.social 70 points 1 day ago (1 children)

He couldn't have done it! He was having a couple beers with me at the time that CEO died

[–] Glytch@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I remember that night! He was buying rounds for the whole bar, what a great guy!

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[–] RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world 86 points 1 day ago (16 children)

Luigi Mangione is a hero of the people.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 37 points 1 day ago

Nah he was just framed as one

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[–] PurpleSkull@lemm.ee 70 points 1 day ago

Who's that guy? Doesn't look like the guy they were searching for. At all.

[–] minorkeys@lemmy.world 66 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Free this man. The wealthy psychopaths need something to be fearful of as it's the only emotional trigger that will keep their behavior from genociding the poor.

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[–] Allonzee@lemmy.world 61 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I told you he didn't do it!

[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)
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[–] PunkRockSportsFan@fanaticus.social 59 points 21 hours ago (9 children)

That kid didn’t do it. They are railroading him too hard and committing too many procedural violations for it to be anything but a setup.

Any normal case a judge would throw everything out for how prejudicial the state has behaved.

The face they don’t care how blatantly prejudicial they are shows they don’t care if he did it or not.

He didn’t do it.

The CEOs wife had hmm killed for meeting his side piece there.

The assassin was from El Salvador or something.

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[–] Dojan@pawb.social 51 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah that tracks. He was walking my dough at the time.

[–] snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 40 points 1 day ago (2 children)

He was walking my dough at the time

Is that a new way to make bread?

[–] Snowpix@lemmy.ca 48 points 23 hours ago

If the eyebrows don't fit, you must acquit.

[–] johnpmac@lemm.ee 43 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

“He who saves his country commits no crime “

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[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 41 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Federal prosecutors claimed in their new filing that Mangione deserves the death penalty because of "the impact of the victim's death upon his family, friends and co-workers" and because "he expressed intent to target an entire industry and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence."

I just want to remind everyone of the impact of many of Thompson's murders on their family, friend, and co-workers, all in the service of the money masters' sheer, unadulterated, insatiable greed.

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[–] jaykrown@lemm.ee 38 points 23 hours ago

Good, honestly we don't even know if he's the person who did the crime.

[–] misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 11 hours ago

Luigi is a hero. But not because he killed a CEO, or anyone. Because he was framed by the government, dragged through the mud, humiliated publicly, and held his head high standing 10 feet tall. Not guilty plea is nothing less than I expected. We should all take note of his example. They can't beat us all if we resist.

[–] merdaverse@lemmy.world 32 points 10 hours ago

Well, that settles it then. Better release him for the sake of Government Efficiency and all that.

[–] GoodOleAmerika@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dude was with me in Bahamas

[–] clashorcrashman@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 day ago

I was in the Bahamas and witnessed him being with you.

[–] xc2215x@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago

Good. All the best to him.

[–] anas@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago

He can’t have done it, I saw him on the day and I don’t live in the US. He’s telling the truth.

[–] jasonwnclife@lemm.ee 25 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Does the public have any information on the evidence they have that he did it? What I have read about all sounds like a weak case with what I suspect is a mountain of inadmissible evidence gathered by methods outside of laws that would apply to the non elite class.

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[–] mechoman444@lemmy.world 23 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

He should be acquitted specifically to make a point. A certain type of individual may or may not be safe if said person performs against the interest of their constituents.

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[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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[–] Uranus_Hz@lemm.ee 21 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

World needs fewer Elons and more Luigis

[–] tfm@europe.pub 19 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

The world needs no Elons at all

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[–] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 14 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

Seeing the way Luigi was carrying himself, and his facial expressions, makes me wonder. Does he actually have a cast-iron allibi just waiting to be revealed?

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