The defense team of accused killer of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Luigi Mangione, has asked a judge to delay his federal trial for the killing from September 2026 to January 2027.
In a letter filed Wednesday, Mangione's lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett to delay the trial, arguing that the current schedule would force them to prepare two major cases at the same time and would undermine his right to a fair trial. The request centers on the unusual overlap between Mangione's state and federal prosecutions. His state murder trial is currently set to begin June 8, 2026, while jury selection in the federal case is scheduled to start Sept. 8, with opening statements set for Oct. 13.
According to his attorneys, that timeline would leave them defending Mangione in state court while simultaneously preparing for the start of federal proceedings, including the substantial task of handling jury questionnaires and developing trial strategy in a second high-profile case. Mangione's lawyers said the scheduling conflict is especially serious because both prosecutions stem from the same killing and have drawn intense public attention.
They argued that it would be "impossible" to properly prepare for a federal trial in September while the state trial is still underway or only recently concluded. The defense has proposed moving the federal case to January 2027 and, separately, plans to ask the state court to delay its own trial date from June to September.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote in the letter, "Mr. Mangione is now in the impossible position of having to review 800 jury questionnaires during the week of June 29, 2026, while on trial for second-degree murder in state court."
The filing marks a shift from the legal positioning seen earlier this year. In February, Mangione's attorneys had pushed to keep the federal trial on track after the state court advanced its own schedule, arguing at the time that the federal court had long made clear it intended to try the case in 2026.
But the calculus changed after the state court fixed June 8 as the start date and after it became clear that federal prosecutors would not appeal Garnett's ruling barring them from seeking the death penalty. That decision removed one of the conditions that might have automatically reshuffled the calendar.
Judge Gregory Carro, who is presiding over the state case, had previously indicated he would consider moving the state trial if the federal case were delayed because of an appeal over the death penalty ruling. Federal prosecutors later told the court they would not pursue that appeal, effectively preserving the September federal schedule unless Garnett now decides to grant Mangione's new request. As of Wednesday, the defense said it would ask Carro to move the state trial to Sept. 8 if the federal case is postponed to January.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty in both cases. The federal prosecution was narrowed in January when Garnett dismissed the murder and weapons counts that had exposed him to the death penalty, leaving stalking-related charges in place. Even so, the case remains one of the most closely watched criminal prosecutions in New York, and defense lawyers say the sheer volume of media attention will make jury selection unusually complicated in both courts.
