New York
Mangione will assert psychiatric defense in murder case in killing of health care CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione plans to assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial, claiming he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance when he gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said Wednesday. That could mean less prison time if he’s convicted.
A jury that accepts such a defense would be obligated to convict Mangione of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. An emotional disturbance defense isn’t available in Mangione’s federal case, where he also faces a possible life sentence.
New York Judge Gregory Carro announced the defense’s decision in court two weeks after holding a secret hearing on the matter. He said he will unseal a transcript and other records from that hearing once redactions are made.
Carro said Mangione’s lawyers first raised the possibility of a psychiatric defense last year in a letter that was filed under seal and confirmed their decision at the June 3 hearing, which the judge said was held in secret at the defense’s request.
“The reasons for the sealing was to give the defense an opportunity to determine whether they were going forth with that defense and the nature of that defense,” Carro said.
Carro said he didn’t expect the development to delay Mangione’s trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Sept. 8. His next pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11.
Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said he wants Mangione evaluated by a prosecution psychiatrist. To facilitate that, Carro said, Mangione could soon be moved to New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex from a federal jail in Brooklyn, where he has been held since shortly after his December 2024 arrest.
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13.
Mangione, sitting between his lawyers and wearing a blue suit, didn’t appear to react as Carro spoke. At a February at a hearing, Mangione railed against the prospect of two trials, telling Carro: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”
An extreme emotional disturbance defense wouldn’t absolve Mangione of responsibility for Thompson’s killing. It is not the same as a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, which would allow a defendant to go to a psychiatric facility instead of prison.
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said unsealing the transcript of the secret hearing and materials related to his psychiatric defense will harm him in his federal case.
“The reason why we asked for the sealing is that this defense is not available federally and Mr. Mangione is being prosecuted federally and this is prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts,” Friedman Agnifilo said.
The judge had been set to rule on the matter Tuesday, but was forced to delay it a day because prosecutors failed to let Mangione’s jail know that he was needed in court.
Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
At a May 18 hearing, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him. The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said.
The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”
On Wednesday, Carro dismissed a charge related to a gun magazine that he had ruled inadmissible because it was found during an initial search of Mangione’s backpack at the McDonald’s.
To establish an emotional disturbance defense, Mangione’s lawyers must show that the disturbance was so extreme it robbed him of self-control; that, in his mind, he had a reasonable explanation or excuse for the disturbance; and that he killed Thompson while “under the influence” of that disturbance.
Wisconsin
Former Trump attorneys, aides plead not guilty to forgery charges
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s attorney for the 2020 campaign in Wisconsin and two former aides all pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony forgery charges for their roles in a fake elector scheme designed to overturn Trump’s loss in the swing state.
Jim Troupis, a former judge who was Trump’s Wisconsin campaign attorney, Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020, and Ken Chesebro, a former Trump legal adviser, all entered the pleas in Dane County Circuit Court.
Troupis, who lives in the Madison area, appeared in person. Roman and Chesebro appeared via Zoom.
The Wisconsin fake electors case is moving forward even as others in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered. A special prosecutor last year dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Another case in Nevada is still alive.
The fake elector scheme, under which Republican electors in battleground states submitted documentation to Congress attesting that Trump had won their states even though he lost to Joe Biden, originated in Wisconsin.
Troupis, Chesebro and Roman argue that they committed no crime and were just trying to keep their options alive in case a court ruled that Trump had actually won the state.
But prosecutors allege that the three defendants defrauded the 10 Wisconsin Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump in 2020.
Prosecutors contend that Troupis, Chesebro and Roman lied to the electors about how the certificate they signed would be used as part of a plan to submit paperwork to then-Vice President Mike Pence, falsely claiming that Trump had won the battleground state that year.
A majority of the electors told investigators that they did not believe their signatures on the elector certificate would be submitted to Congress without a court ruling, the complaint said. Also, a majority said they did not consent to having their signatures presented as if Trump had won without such a court ruling, the complaint said.
The arraignment on Tuesday came two years and two weeks after the first charges were brought against the three by Wisconsin Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul. Troupis, Chesebro and Roman face 11 felony forgery charges which are each punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Troupis and Roman both filed motions seeking to relocate the trial from Dane County, which includes Madison, to neighboring Jefferson County, saying negative publicity had tainted the potential jury pool.
Trump carried Jefferson County by 15 percentage points in 2020. He lost Dane County by nearly 53 points.
“This case is headed to trial,” Troupis attorney Joe Bugni wrote in Troupis’ motion. “No question. Neither side is going to blink. And when we get to trial, Troupis has the right to a fair and impartial jury.”
Troupis and Roman also argued that one of the 11 felony counts against them should be dropped because Trump issued a pardon for any federal crimes related to their work on the fake elector scheme. They argued that the state can’t prosecute them over the casting of electoral votes, which is a federal process, and therefore Trump’s pardon applies.
Trump also pardoned Chesebro.
The judge said Tuesday he would set a schedule to hear arguments on those motions.
The state charges against the Trump attorneys and aide are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the electors have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a lawsuit that was brought against them by Democrats seeking damages.
Connecticut
Cradle nominated as first Black woman to State Supreme Court
Chief Judge Melanie L. Cradle of the Appellate Court was nominated Monday by Gov. Ned Lamont to the state Supreme Court, positioning her to become the first Black woman to serve on Connecticut’s highest court.
If confirmed by the General Assembly, she would succeed Joan K. Alexander, who has submitted her resignation as an associate justice, effective Aug. 1. She will remain a judge and continue her role as the chief court administrator.
Cradle, 56, has been a judge for more than a decade, nominated to the Superior Court by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2013 and to the Appellate Court by Lamont in 2020. She has been chief judge since last year.
Lamont nominated Superior Court Judge W. Glen Pierson to succeed Cradle on the Appellate Court. Pierson, 57, has been a trial judge since 2017 and currently is assigned to the complex litigation docket in Waterbury.
The governor noted the nominations were coming as the nation prepares for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and “the greatest sentence ever written: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
He paused and added, “It only took us 250 years, but Melanie would be the first African American woman ever on Connecticut’s Supreme Court.”
The remark prompted extended applause from colleagues and relatives of both nominees, as well as members of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and the Senate’s top leaders.
Cradle’s family history intersects with contemporary and historic legal controversies. Her mother is an immigrant, a German who emigrated to the U.S. to be married to a Black serviceman from Virginia.
Her mother, husband and two daughters attended the announcement. Her father is deceased.
“My mother, who is here with me today, and my father, who I know is here with me today in spirit — my success is a result of the examples set by them,” Cradle said.
Cradle recognized the presence of Lubbie Harper Jr., the third Black man to serve on the state Supreme Court. She called him a mentor.
Cradle has Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and sociology from Adelphi University and a law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. She was a state prosecutor before becoming a judge.
“If I am fortunate to be confirmed by the legislature, I will work faithfully for the people of this state to earn the trust that has been placed in me,” she said.
Pierson has a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics from Princeton University and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He was a civil litigator at Loughlin FitzGerald in Wallingford before becoming a judge.
“It is in a spirit of humility that if I am confirmed I dedicate myself to fulfilling the ideals of our judiciary and in particular equal justice under law,” he said.
He is married to a judge, Charles Reid. They met three decades ago while both worked at Wiggin & Dana. Reid was present Monday to photograph the announcement.
Pierson would assumed Cradle’s seat on the Appellate Court, but not her title as chief.
Unlike the Supreme Court, where the chief justice is a gubernatorial nominee, the chief judge of the Appellate Court is an appointee of Raheem L. Mullins, the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Mullins announced later Monday that his choice for chief was Judge Robert W. Clark, who already sits on the Appellate Court.
Mangione will assert psychiatric defense in murder case in killing of health care CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione plans to assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial, claiming he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance when he gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said Wednesday. That could mean less prison time if he’s convicted.
A jury that accepts such a defense would be obligated to convict Mangione of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. An emotional disturbance defense isn’t available in Mangione’s federal case, where he also faces a possible life sentence.
New York Judge Gregory Carro announced the defense’s decision in court two weeks after holding a secret hearing on the matter. He said he will unseal a transcript and other records from that hearing once redactions are made.
Carro said Mangione’s lawyers first raised the possibility of a psychiatric defense last year in a letter that was filed under seal and confirmed their decision at the June 3 hearing, which the judge said was held in secret at the defense’s request.
“The reasons for the sealing was to give the defense an opportunity to determine whether they were going forth with that defense and the nature of that defense,” Carro said.
Carro said he didn’t expect the development to delay Mangione’s trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Sept. 8. His next pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11.
Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said he wants Mangione evaluated by a prosecution psychiatrist. To facilitate that, Carro said, Mangione could soon be moved to New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex from a federal jail in Brooklyn, where he has been held since shortly after his December 2024 arrest.
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13.
Mangione, sitting between his lawyers and wearing a blue suit, didn’t appear to react as Carro spoke. At a February at a hearing, Mangione railed against the prospect of two trials, telling Carro: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”
An extreme emotional disturbance defense wouldn’t absolve Mangione of responsibility for Thompson’s killing. It is not the same as a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, which would allow a defendant to go to a psychiatric facility instead of prison.
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said unsealing the transcript of the secret hearing and materials related to his psychiatric defense will harm him in his federal case.
“The reason why we asked for the sealing is that this defense is not available federally and Mr. Mangione is being prosecuted federally and this is prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts,” Friedman Agnifilo said.
The judge had been set to rule on the matter Tuesday, but was forced to delay it a day because prosecutors failed to let Mangione’s jail know that he was needed in court.
Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
At a May 18 hearing, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him. The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said.
The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”
On Wednesday, Carro dismissed a charge related to a gun magazine that he had ruled inadmissible because it was found during an initial search of Mangione’s backpack at the McDonald’s.
To establish an emotional disturbance defense, Mangione’s lawyers must show that the disturbance was so extreme it robbed him of self-control; that, in his mind, he had a reasonable explanation or excuse for the disturbance; and that he killed Thompson while “under the influence” of that disturbance.
Wisconsin
Former Trump attorneys, aides plead not guilty to forgery charges
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s attorney for the 2020 campaign in Wisconsin and two former aides all pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony forgery charges for their roles in a fake elector scheme designed to overturn Trump’s loss in the swing state.
Jim Troupis, a former judge who was Trump’s Wisconsin campaign attorney, Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020, and Ken Chesebro, a former Trump legal adviser, all entered the pleas in Dane County Circuit Court.
Troupis, who lives in the Madison area, appeared in person. Roman and Chesebro appeared via Zoom.
The Wisconsin fake electors case is moving forward even as others in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered. A special prosecutor last year dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Another case in Nevada is still alive.
The fake elector scheme, under which Republican electors in battleground states submitted documentation to Congress attesting that Trump had won their states even though he lost to Joe Biden, originated in Wisconsin.
Troupis, Chesebro and Roman argue that they committed no crime and were just trying to keep their options alive in case a court ruled that Trump had actually won the state.
But prosecutors allege that the three defendants defrauded the 10 Wisconsin Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump in 2020.
Prosecutors contend that Troupis, Chesebro and Roman lied to the electors about how the certificate they signed would be used as part of a plan to submit paperwork to then-Vice President Mike Pence, falsely claiming that Trump had won the battleground state that year.
A majority of the electors told investigators that they did not believe their signatures on the elector certificate would be submitted to Congress without a court ruling, the complaint said. Also, a majority said they did not consent to having their signatures presented as if Trump had won without such a court ruling, the complaint said.
The arraignment on Tuesday came two years and two weeks after the first charges were brought against the three by Wisconsin Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul. Troupis, Chesebro and Roman face 11 felony forgery charges which are each punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Troupis and Roman both filed motions seeking to relocate the trial from Dane County, which includes Madison, to neighboring Jefferson County, saying negative publicity had tainted the potential jury pool.
Trump carried Jefferson County by 15 percentage points in 2020. He lost Dane County by nearly 53 points.
“This case is headed to trial,” Troupis attorney Joe Bugni wrote in Troupis’ motion. “No question. Neither side is going to blink. And when we get to trial, Troupis has the right to a fair and impartial jury.”
Troupis and Roman also argued that one of the 11 felony counts against them should be dropped because Trump issued a pardon for any federal crimes related to their work on the fake elector scheme. They argued that the state can’t prosecute them over the casting of electoral votes, which is a federal process, and therefore Trump’s pardon applies.
Trump also pardoned Chesebro.
The judge said Tuesday he would set a schedule to hear arguments on those motions.
The state charges against the Trump attorneys and aide are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the electors have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a lawsuit that was brought against them by Democrats seeking damages.
Connecticut
Cradle nominated as first Black woman to State Supreme Court
Chief Judge Melanie L. Cradle of the Appellate Court was nominated Monday by Gov. Ned Lamont to the state Supreme Court, positioning her to become the first Black woman to serve on Connecticut’s highest court.
If confirmed by the General Assembly, she would succeed Joan K. Alexander, who has submitted her resignation as an associate justice, effective Aug. 1. She will remain a judge and continue her role as the chief court administrator.
Cradle, 56, has been a judge for more than a decade, nominated to the Superior Court by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2013 and to the Appellate Court by Lamont in 2020. She has been chief judge since last year.
Lamont nominated Superior Court Judge W. Glen Pierson to succeed Cradle on the Appellate Court. Pierson, 57, has been a trial judge since 2017 and currently is assigned to the complex litigation docket in Waterbury.
The governor noted the nominations were coming as the nation prepares for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and “the greatest sentence ever written: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
He paused and added, “It only took us 250 years, but Melanie would be the first African American woman ever on Connecticut’s Supreme Court.”
The remark prompted extended applause from colleagues and relatives of both nominees, as well as members of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and the Senate’s top leaders.
Cradle’s family history intersects with contemporary and historic legal controversies. Her mother is an immigrant, a German who emigrated to the U.S. to be married to a Black serviceman from Virginia.
Her mother, husband and two daughters attended the announcement. Her father is deceased.
“My mother, who is here with me today, and my father, who I know is here with me today in spirit — my success is a result of the examples set by them,” Cradle said.
Cradle recognized the presence of Lubbie Harper Jr., the third Black man to serve on the state Supreme Court. She called him a mentor.
Cradle has Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and sociology from Adelphi University and a law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. She was a state prosecutor before becoming a judge.
“If I am fortunate to be confirmed by the legislature, I will work faithfully for the people of this state to earn the trust that has been placed in me,” she said.
Pierson has a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics from Princeton University and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He was a civil litigator at Loughlin FitzGerald in Wallingford before becoming a judge.
“It is in a spirit of humility that if I am confirmed I dedicate myself to fulfilling the ideals of our judiciary and in particular equal justice under law,” he said.
He is married to a judge, Charles Reid. They met three decades ago while both worked at Wiggin & Dana. Reid was present Monday to photograph the announcement.
Pierson would assumed Cradle’s seat on the Appellate Court, but not her title as chief.
Unlike the Supreme Court, where the chief justice is a gubernatorial nominee, the chief judge of the Appellate Court is an appointee of Raheem L. Mullins, the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Mullins announced later Monday that his choice for chief was Judge Robert W. Clark, who already sits on the Appellate Court.
