A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Luigi Mangione is back in court today. He's the 27-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street nearly a year ago. As Walter Wuthmann of member station WNYC reports, Mangione's defense attorneys are trying to get certain evidence thrown out ahead of trial.
WALTER WUTHMANN, BYLINE: About this time last year, police arrested Mangione in the back of a Pennsylvania McDonald's after a dayslong nationwide manhunt. Investigators say they found evidence in Mangione's backpack linking him to Thompson's shooting - a handgun, a silencer and a notebook where he allegedly wrote of his intent to, quote, "whack" an insurance executive. Mangione's defense attorneys say police did not read him his Miranda rights for 20 minutes. New York Law School professor Anna Cominsky says that could be a problem for the government's case.
ANNA COMINSKY: The defense is arguing that the defendant was in custody and being interrogated and therefore should have been Mirandized. And because he wasn't, any statements that were obtained were in violation of his constitutional rights and therefore should be suppressed.
WUTHMANN: Defense attorneys also argue police didn't have a proper warrant when they searched Mangione's backpack. But former federal prosecutor Jason Swergold says police have wide latitude to make searches during an arrest.
JASON SWERGOLD: I think that, you know, the defense is going to have an uphill battle when it comes to suppressing evidence found in the backpack.
WUTHMANN: Crowds of people are expected to attend Mangione's hearings this week, as he's become something of a folk hero. There are thousands of internet memes glorifying Mangione as a vigilante. Prosecutors push back on this characterization and argue Mangione murdered a father of two in cold blood. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. The federal charges carry the possibility of the death penalty. The judge in Mangione's New York case could set a trial date this week.
For NPR News, I'm Walter Wuthmann in New York City.
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