On Monday, December 1, 2025, all eyes are on a Lower Manhattan courtroom as Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, returns for a series of pivotal pre-trial hearings. The proceedings, which have already generated a media frenzy and drawn crowds of both supporters and detractors, are set to determine what evidence will be admissible in the high-profile case that has gripped the nation for nearly a year.
Mangione faces both state and federal murder charges in connection with the December 4, 2024, killing of Thompson outside a Midtown hotel. The case has become a flashpoint in debates over the American healthcare system, criminal justice, and even celebrity culture, as Mangione’s photogenic appearance and the dramatic circumstances of his arrest have spawned a fervent online following. According to WNYC and NPR, crowds of young supporters, some clad in “Free Luigi” shirts, have consistently shown up at his court appearances, while memes and internet groups track every detail of his public image. Yet, for many—including President Trump, as reported by AMNY—Mangione is seen as nothing more than a cold-blooded assassin.
The hearings before Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro will focus on whether certain key pieces of evidence should be suppressed before the trial moves forward. Among the most contentious items is a red notebook that police say they recovered from Mangione’s backpack when he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following a nationwide manhunt. Prosecutors argue that the notebook contains passages demonstrating Mangione’s motive, including one that reads, “I finally feel confident about what I will do. The target is insurance. It checks every box.” Another entry reportedly describes his intent to “whack” the CEO of an insurance company, according to ABC News and WNYC.
But Mangione’s defense team is pushing back hard. In court filings, they argue that law enforcement officers violated Mangione’s constitutional rights by interrogating him without issuing Miranda warnings and by searching his backpack without a proper warrant. Specifically, they claim that police began questioning Mangione immediately after approaching him at the McDonald’s, waiting about 20 minutes before finally informing him of his rights. “Mr. Mangione exercised his constitutional right to remain silent and expressed that he did not want to speak to law enforcement,” the defense motion states, as reported by AMNY and WNYC.
The defense is also seeking to prevent the prosecution from introducing the contents of the notebook into evidence at this week’s hearings, arguing that doing so would “irreparably prejudice Mr. Mangione at his multiple upcoming trials.” Mangione’s attorneys have asked the judge to keep witnesses from characterizing the writings as a manifesto, emphasizing that many of the notebook’s contents have already been made public and have been used to establish motive by police and prosecutors. The defense has also requested that Judge Carro force the prosecution to disclose its full list of witnesses and to allow Mangione to appear unshackled during the proceedings. Last week, a federal judge permitted the delivery of two new suits to the Brooklyn detention center where Mangione is being held, so he can wear them to the hearings, as reported by AMNY.
On the other side, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office maintains that the Altoona Police Department acted lawfully when seizing Mangione’s property. Prosecutors plan to call multiple police witnesses, including Cpl. Garrett Trent and Patrolman Randy Miller, to rebut the defense’s claims. According to Gary Galperin, a former senior prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s office, suppression hearings like this one are crucial opportunities for the defense to question key witnesses ahead of trial. “Any testimony generated at the pre-trial hearing could be used, potentially, to impeach that witness at trial,” Galperin told AMNY. Anna Cominsky, a professor at New York Law School, added, “The number one goal is of course to win the motions, but the number two goal is to discover more information.”
Legal experts agree that getting Judge Carro to block the evidence found in Mangione’s backpack will be an uphill battle. Jason Swergold, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, told AMNY that the defense “is going to have an uphill battle when it comes to suppressing evidence found in the backpack.” Still, if the judge sides with the defense and strikes any of the evidence from Mangione’s arrest, the prosecution’s case could become significantly harder to prove, as noted by NPR.
The case’s notoriety is due in no small part to the dramatic details of the crime itself. Thompson, a Minnesota resident in New York for a conference, was ambushed outside his hotel on West 52nd Street and shot dead with bullets inscribed with the words “Deny, Defend, Depose”—jargon commonly used by health insurance companies in claim disputes. Police allege that Mangione, who lived in Maryland, traveled to New York days earlier and used a 3D-printed ghost gun for the shooting. After the killing, he vanished, only to be apprehended days later in Pennsylvania and extradited to New York. Mangione’s most recent court appearance in September saw terrorism charges against him dismissed, but he still faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted on state charges, and the death penalty if convicted federally—a rare prospect in New York since the state abolished capital punishment two decades ago.
As the hearings unfold, the spectacle outside the courtroom is likely to rival the drama within. Mangione’s supporters, many of whom see him as an anti-capitalist vigilante challenging a broken healthcare system, are expected to turn out in force. There are even rumors of a musical production based on his story, and Mangione’s every move is tracked online by fans obsessed with his appearance, clothing, and demeanor. Yet, as Sabrina Schroff, a federal defense attorney unaffiliated with the case, told NPR, the government’s aggressive pursuit of the death penalty “elevated him from the average defendant to almost, like, a cult hero.”
For prosecutors, however, the case remains a straightforward matter of justice. They argue that Mangione murdered a father of two in cold blood, and they are determined to see him held accountable. As the legal battle over evidence plays out this week, the outcome will shape not only Mangione’s fate but also the broader conversation about crime, punishment, and the power of public opinion in the digital age.
Regardless of which side prevails at the suppression hearings, one thing is certain: the nation will be watching closely as the next chapter in the Luigi Mangione case unfolds.
