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Luigi Mangione’s backpack and the circumstances surrounding his Pennsylvania arrest were the focus of this week’s hearings in New York as his defense lawyers are trying to get some evidence tossed entirely.
Mangione’s attorneys attempted to pick apart Pennsylvania police’s handling of their initial arrest of Mangione, challenging their warrantless search of the murder suspect’s backpack and a delay in being read his Miranda rights. The set of pre-trial hearings is aimed at determining whether evidence will be excluded from his upcoming trial for the alleged killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital he believes prosecutors will be able to argue successfully that the backpack search as well as officers’ reading of Miranda rights were done within the law.
“I agree with prosecutors in this case that it was a legal search. And this is why there are some exceptions to the search warrant requirement. And the two that really would apply in this case are a search incident to an arrest or an inventory search. Both of those require an arrest. So as long as there was probable cause for an arrest, law enforcement can search anything within Mangione’s wingspan,” Rahmani said.
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However, if Judge Gregory Carro rules against prosecutors and excludes evidence from the backpack, Rahmani said it could be “very damaging” to the case.
“So that could be potentially fatal to the prosecution’s case. They’d have to rely just on the video, the DNA at the scene, eyewitness testimony, fingerprint evidence,” he said.
Here’s what was presented in court over the past week:
Contents of Mangione’s backpack and pockets:
- Map – Mangione had a to-do list that had an escape plan for travel from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Handgun and multi-tool pocketknife.
- Identification, banking cards and other personal hygiene products.
- Notebook and flash drives.
Body camera video of Mangione’s confrontation with police before he was arrested:
WATCH: Police confront Luigi Mangione before arrest
Prosecutors released body camera video showing the moments before Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
When Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9, 2024 at the McDonald’s, a police officer said they got a call that he looked “suspicious.”
“I’m sorry,” Mangione told the police officer before looking down at his phone. Mangione identified himself as “Mark Rosario” during the interaction and handed over an ID.
According to the officer, the person who reported Mangione to authorities did so because they “thought [he] looked like someone.”
“I’m a manager at Plank Road McDonald’s out here on the boulevard,” a McDonald’s manager told the 911 dispatcher. “And I have a customer here, that some other customers were suspicious of, that he looks like the CEO shooter from New York.”
During the interaction with police, Mangione was asked, “Why are you lying about your name?”
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“I clearly shouldn’t have,” Mangione said.
When Altoona Police Officer Stephen Fox asked Mangione if he was using a fake ID, the suspect shook his head up and down, according to video shown in court.
Fox testified that he felt “uneasy” while patting down Mangione because of the way he was sitting and not making eye contact.
Mangione was taken into custody in Pennsylvania on charges relating to false identification.
Altoona Police Lt. William Hanelly was also seen in the body camera video telling Mangione that he’d be in even more trouble if he continued using a fake name with officers.
Officer testimony:
Hanelly also claimed that a warrant wasn’t needed to search Mangione’s bag, saying it was a warrant exception.
Video shown in court from Mangione’s arrest at the McDonald’s shows one police officer saying, “We probably need a search warrant at this point.”
Another officer responded, “It doesn’t matter. He is under arrest for a crime here, so we can search,” referring to the arrest of Mangione for allegedly possessing a fake ID.
Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, argued the backpack search was illegal and is attempting to exclude that evidence from trial.
Altoona Police Officer Christy Wasser was seen on body camera video shown in court pulling out wet underwear from Mangione’s backpack that had a magazine with bullets inside it.
“There was another magazine hidden in his underwear,” Wasser can be heard saying.
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As Wasser held up the magazine with bullets inside, someone can be heard saying, “it’s f—— him.”
Mangione’s defense team has also argued that police waited too long to read the suspect his Miranda rights. When Fox took the stand, he explained that he didn’t initially tell Mangione he was in custody to get the suspect to talk.
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