US EditionJudge says she’ll hold a limited hearing on seizure of Luigi Mangione’s backpack
Judge Garnett will hear testimony on Altoona police search procedures that could affect evidence use in Mangione’s federal death penalty case.
- On Monday, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett ordered a short evidentiary hearing within two weeks to review whether Luigi Mangione's backpack was lawfully seized, moving it ahead of the Jan. 30 conference.
- Mangione's lawyers argue the pre-warrant search was illegal and seek to bar backpack items from the federal case, noting conviction could carry a possible death sentence, while prosecutors say Altoona police policy allowed an inventory search and a warrant was later obtained.
- Officers who searched the bag found a ghost gun, fake IDs, a loaded gun magazine, a gun and silencer, and a notebook with a three-page handwritten document after Mangione's Dec. 9, 2024 arrest at McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
- The judge limited the hearing to testimony from one Altoona police officer about standardized procedures and ordered federal prosecutors to provide the affidavit supporting the federal search warrant.
- The arrest ended a five-day manhunt, and Mangione faces parallel federal and New York state prosecutions with tentative jury selection set for Sept. 8.
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US dispatch: Luigi Mangione’s federal trial could begin in late 2026, death penalty decision pending
Editor’s note: This story is part of ongoing coverage of the lead up to Mangione’s trial. Read Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Days 5-7, Day 8, and Day 9 of suppression hearings on the case. Luigi Mangione’s federal criminal trial could begin as soon as October 2026. On January 9, Judge Margaret Garnett of the Southern District of New York outlined a tentative schedule for the case. The final dates largely rest on unresolved questions surrounding th…
Luigi Mangione judge summons cop to court to testify on backpack search — backtracking on previous decision
A federal judge has decided to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine if Luigi Mangione’s backpack was lawfully seized during his arrest in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Judge orders hearing on if Luigi Mangione's backpack was lawfully searched during his arrest
In a reversal, the judge overseeing Luigi Mangione's federal trial on Monday ordered a hearing to determine whether the accused killer's backpack was lawfully searched during his arrest at a McDonald's in December 2024
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