A US federal judge on Friday barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, after dismissing the only federal charge that allowed capital punishment in the federal case.
US District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the federal murder-through-use-of-a-firearm charge and a related gun count, finding the indictment was technically flawed because it relied on stalking as the underlying “crime of violence”. Stalking does not meet that definition under federal law, she wrote, citing case law and legal precedents, the Associated Pressreported.
