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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal charges of gunning down health insurance executive Brian Thompson, a day after prosecutors formally stated their intent to seek the death penalty.
Mangione, 26, wore a tan jail-issued t-shirt as he was led into the packed lower Manhattan courtroom. He previously pleaded not guilty to a separate set of New York state charges over the December 4 killing of Thompson, the former CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit UnitedHealthcare.
He entered the plea at an arraignment before U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett.
The brazen shooting of Thompson outside a midtown Manhattan hotel, where the company had gathered for an investor conference, and the ensuing five-day manhunt, captivated Americans.
Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool
Authorities say the words “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” - a phrase that echoes tactics some accuse health insurers of using to avoid paying out claims - were found written on shell casings at the crime scene.
While public officials condemned the killing, some Americans have cheered Mangione, saying he drew attention to steep U.S. healthcare costs and the power of health insurers to refuse payment for some treatments.
In justifying their decision to seek the death penalty, prosecutors wrote in a Thursday night court filing that Mangione “presents a future danger because he expressed an intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month announced that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty for Mangione. Thursday’s court filing by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office formalized prosecutors’ intent.
Mangione’s lawyers have said Bondi’s April 1 announcement was “unapologetically political” and breached government protocols for death penalty decisions.
If Mangione is convicted in the federal case, the jury would determine in a separate phase of the trial whether to recommend the death penalty. Any such recommendation must be unanimous, and the judge would be required to impose it.
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Mangione is currently being held in federal lockup in Brooklyn.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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