Understanding the first-degree murder charges against Luigi Mangione.
Today, it was announced that a Manhattan grand jury has indicted Luigi Mangione for a number of felony crimes relating to his alleged killing of the former CEO of United Healthcare, Brian Thompson, in midtown Manhattan. The most serious crime is Murder in the First Degree, Penal Law Section 125.27. This Class A-1 violent felony is rarely charged in New York state court and carries with it the highest possible penalties in the New York criminal code. Whereas Murder in the Second Degree’s most serious possible penalty is an indeterminate sentence of between 25 years and life (meaning that a person will become eligible for parole, eventually), Murder in the First Degree has a possible penalty of life in prison without parole. Murder in the First Degree, according to the Penal Law as it is written, also carries a potential death penalty sentence, but that provision was invalidated as unconstitutional by a New York appeals court years and is thus no longer a possibility for New York state court cases.
Murder in the Second Degree is the intentional killing of another person (NY Penal Law Section 125.25). Murder in the First Degree requires an additional aggravating element. Intentional murders of police officers, for example, can become Murder in the First Degree. Here, Mr. Mangione has been indicted for Murder in the First Degree because of the added aggravating element of terroristic intent. If a person commits a murder with the intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, or to do the same to a government or government agency, then that can be considered an act of terrorism (see NY Penal Law Section 490.05). Mr. Mangione apparently had no personal connection to his alleged victim, Mr. Thompson, and had never communicated with him personally. Mr. Thompson held a very prominent position within his industry, obviously, as the CEO of a multibillion dollar health insurance corporation. The police found a manifesto in Mr. Mangione’s backpack detailing his desire to shake up the industry and the nation. Thus, it appears that Mr. Mangione’s intent may in fact have been to intimidate the health care industry, its employees, or just the ruling class in general.
The District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, may have chosen these charges for several reasons. First and most obviously, they appear to fit. Second, they carry lengthier potential prison sentences and may thus make it easier for him to negotiate a plea bargain to Murder in the Second Degree. Third, it may have been intended as a strong signal to the electorate that he would continue to prosecute offenders regardless of political popularity, especially in the wake of his prosecutions of Mr. Trump and Daniel Penney. Finally, it might have been intended to keep the incoming federal prosecutor in New York city (Southern District of New York) from attempting to exercise its jurisdiction over the case and “steal it” from the state agency.
The author, Matthew Galluzzo, is a criminal defense attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor. If you or a loved one have been arrested on federal or state murder charges, you should strongly consider contacting him.