As Breitbart News reported, Mangione’s lawyers argued as expected that the New York City case and a parallel federal death penalty prosecution amounted to double jeopardy.
But Judge Gregory Carro rejected the argument, saying it would be premature to make such a determination.
The judge ruled to dismiss both terrorism charges — murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism — writing they were “legally insufficient.”
Mangione walked into Manhattan Criminal Court wearing a tan prison jumpsuit shortly before 9:30 a.m. for the hearing on several pre-trial motions. Dozens of members of the press packed the courtroom, as well as members of the public, CBS News reports.
AP reports in the judge’s written decision, he said that although there is no doubt that the killing was not ordinary street crime, New York law doesn’t consider something terrorism simply because it was motivated by ideology. Carro wrote:
While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the health care industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to ‘intimidate and coerce a civilian population,’ and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal.
Carro scheduled pretrial hearings in the case for Dec. 1, which is days before Mangione is next due in court in the federal case against him, the AP report states.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson – a husband and father of two – from behind as he arrived for an investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Following the shooting, authorities with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) described Thompson’s death as an apparent “brazen targeted attack,” Breitbart News reported December 4.
Video footage shows the chilling moment Thompson was fatally shot.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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