CEO killing: Manhattan prosecutors push accused UnitedHealthcare killer Luigi Mangione to decide on psych defense

Manhattan prosecutors say that defense lawyers for Luigi Mangione, the Maryland man accused of fatally shooting a UnitedHealthcare CEO last year, are dithering over whether to use a mental health defense in the murder case.

Lead prosecutor Joel Seidemann called on State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro to reject a request from Mangione’s legal team for more time to decide on using a psychiatric defense.

Attorneys for the University of Pennsylvania graduate said in an August letter to the court that they want to have all the evidence, also called discovery, turned over by the prosecution before they come to their decision.

The prosecutors said they have plenty of information already.

"Defense counsel has unfettered access to the defendant and psychiatric records, if any, bearing on any such defense," Seidemann wrote to the judge on Thursday. "The numerous terabytes of discovery material that have already been provided, as well as counsel’s unique access to relevant evidence as to the defendant’s state of mind, have provided her with more than adequate information during the eight-month period since arraignment to make a reasonable determination."

Under New York law, a defendant has 30 days to notify the court if he intends to introduce mental health records as part of the case.

Mangione stands accused of using a homemade gun to kill CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan while Thompson was in town for an investor conference. Prosecutors have charged the Ivy League graduate with murder as a terrorist act, illegal gun possession and carrying a fake ID. He pleaded not guilty on Dec. 23.

This case has been complicated by additional charges brought by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office against Mangione for stalking, murder and weapons charges. He pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has promised that federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty in their case if he is convicted.

Federal authorities initially promised to allow the state case to proceed first, but after the capital punishment announcement, defense attorneys have said that they would like the federal case to go first.

Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo argued in her August letter to the judge that notifying the court of a mental disease or defect defense at this point in the case would violate Mangione’s right against self-incrimination.

Seidemann said in his Thursday letter that the defense lawyer’s argument had "no merit" and delaying the notification on the psychiatric defense would hinder the prosecution and "deprive the People of their day in court at a time when the events are fresh in the witnesses’ memories."

Mangione is due back in state court on Sept. 16.