Attorneys for Luigi Mangione asked a judge to stop federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against their client, saying the U.S. government “intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.”
The motion filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the death penalty to “carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
Mangione, 26, who faces state murder and terrorism charges in New York, along with federal murder and stalking charges, is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year in New York City.
Don’t most prosecutors go for the throat assuming the defense will attempt to plea-down?
This could just be them just trying to get them to settle for a life-sentencing?
What you said is true some of the time. In this particular situation I don’t think it’s accurate. I think the prosecution really does want to execute the guy, because they don’t like the example set. They don’t like the notion of random white American men taking out CEOs. The prosecution wants to protect their rich friends.
Also, prosecutors have an ethical responsibility to not bring charges or punishments that they don’t think fit. In other words, if they want to try to get the death penalty, they have to actually believe that the evidence justifies asking for it. Ethically they are not allowed to throw every charge at the defendant and see what sticks. In reality, prosecutors ignore the ethical rules that they are sworn to uphold on a regular basis, and only rarely to judges regulate them for it.
if they botched the arrest, which they did, it wont be in his best interest, especially it became political too.