Luigi Mangione appears for a pretrial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, June 17, 2026.
Angelina Katsanis/AP
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Angelina Katsanis/AP
New York — Luigi Mangione’s legal team made a significant change in their strategy on Thursday, deciding not to pursue a psychiatric defense in his upcoming state court trial scheduled for September. Mangione has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of murdering health insurance CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 on a street in Manhattan.
Just a day prior, in a hearing before Judge Gregory Carro, Mangione’s lawyers had indicated that he was undergoing psychiatric evaluation. They suggested that his defense might partly rely on the claim that Mangione was under “extreme emotional disturbance.”
However, by Thursday, Mangione’s attorneys sent a brief letter to Carro stating they would no longer be presenting psychiatric evidence at this time. The reasons behind this decision remain unclear, and the legal team did not respond to NPR’s requests for comment.
Gary Galperin, a former Manhattan prosecutor and legal analyst, described Mangione’s withdrawal from the psychiatric defense as a “stunning reversal.” He noted that the motives for this change remain speculative.
“The question now is what kind of defense they will present during the trial,” Galperin remarked.
This development occurred after Carro instructed Mangione’s lawyers to quickly provide psychiatric information to the prosecutors.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Carro emphasized the need for clarity, stating, “They need to know what the malady is that this defendant suffers and how that triggered extreme emotional distress. I’m not going to let you surprise people on the eve of trial. Get it done.”
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joel Seidemann expressed frustration, accusing Mangione’s team of “stonewalling” by not disclosing medical information about his psychiatric state. “We have gotten nothing,” Seidemann stated.
Mangione’s lead attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, denied any delay tactics or improper withholding of information on her team’s part.
Legal analyst Richard Schoenstein suggested that by stepping back from the psychiatric defense, Mangione’s team could be sidestepping the court’s deadline to submit psychiatric evidence.
Schoenstein pointed out that while this move doesn’t completely rule out the possibility of revisiting a psychiatric argument during the trial, it would now be significantly more challenging to do so.
Mangione’s case has garnered international attention. Legal experts note that the 28-year-old has received considerable public support due to his criticisms of the health insurance industry. At the time of his murder, Thompson was CEO of UnitedHealthcare and a father of two.
In Wednesday’s hearing, Carro also mentioned that a batch of court documents related to Mangione’s potential psychiatric defense would be made public. However, on Thursday, Carro reversed this decision.
In a signed order, Carro stated that since Mangione will not be presenting psychiatric evidence, “the court’s previous order sealing certain transcripts, emails, and documents, remains in effect.”
Mangione’s state trial is set to commence in early September, with a federal trial anticipated to follow.
