Jurors in alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione's murder trial will be anonymous
Luigi Mangione during a pretrial hearing at New York State Supreme Court in New York on Tuesday. Credit: Bloomberg/David Dee Delgado
Juror identities will be kept secret in the upcoming Sept. 8 murder trial of Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate accused of fatally shooting a UnitedHealthcare executive on a Manhattan sidewalk in 2024.
Manhattan prosecutor Joel Seidmann requested the jury and their address remain anonymous throughout the trial because of the strong support that Mangione, an 28-year-old Ivy League graduate from suburban Maryland, has received.
The case has draw national attention, because of Mangione’s written statements about his anger at the cost of healthcare, raising public debate over the role of the insurance industry in the United States.
Hundreds of protesters, including three women who self-identify as “Mangionistas,” have attended nearly every pretrial hearing.
Prosecutors argue that threats of violence against others in the healthcare industry after the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, justify shutting down access to jury information.
Seidmann also cited a comment from one of the Mangionistas saying, “His children are better off without him. Enjoy the blood money, kids. Brian Thompson was a terrorist.”
Another Mangionista said that she was “looking forward to jury selection” so she could “inform prospective jurors of their rights,” prosecutors said.
On Tuesday at a hearing in Manhattan State Supreme Court, two of the Mangionistas were grouped in the press line and guaranteed seats in the courtroom by the Office of Court Administration.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo opposed the order shutting down the jury information. She said that juror anonymity is justified only when there is a specific threat of violence, which, she said, prosecutors have failed to establish.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro sided with the prosecutors.
“The court finds that these circumstances create a realistic and substantial risk that prospective and sworn jurors could be subject to harassment, intimidation, or improper outside influence, and that disclosure of their identifying information would meaningfully increase that risk,” he wrote in his decision. “The court is obligated to safeguard the integrity of jury service and ensure that jurors may perform their duties without fear, pressure, or undue exposure.”
Prosecutors also expressed worry over attempts to override the evidence against Mangione through jury nullification, which is when the panel votes to acquit despite evidence of guilt.
Prosecutors provided photos of billboard trucks with the words “jury nullification” flashing on the side driving by the courthouse on days that Mangione is to appear in court.
Other supporters have appeared at hearing with “Free Luigi” T-shirts and held signs and banners calling for his release.
Carro ruled that the addresses of the jurors should also be kept from the public.
Spotted lanternflies on the rise The plant-eating pests are raising concerns among farmers and winemakers. Newsday reporter Mark Harrington spoke about some potential upcoming solutions.
Spotted lanternflies on the rise The plant-eating pests are raising concerns among farmers and winemakers. Newsday reporter Mark Harrington spoke about some potential upcoming solutions.
