Luigi Mangione could avoid the death penalty and have two federal charges thrown out due to an alleged error by attorney general Pam Bondi.
Mangione's lawyers claim that Bondi was biased in her decision to seek the death penalty against him in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the defense wrote in a court filing Friday.
Bondi should have recused herself over the 'profound conflict of interest' stemming from her prior work as a lobbyist at Ballard Partners, a firm that represented the UnitedHealthcare's parent company, the document stated.
The defense further alleged that she broke her vow to follow ethical regulations and withdrawal from matters pertaining to Ballard clients for a year, according to the filing reviewed by the Daily Mail.
They argued Bondi has continued to profit from her work for Ballard - and, indirectly, from its work for UnitedHealth Group - through a profit-sharing arrangement with the lobbying firm and a defined contribution plan it administers.
The defense now wants prosecutors barred from seeking the death penalty, two federal charges dropped and certain evidence dismissed from the case.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. He is due back in court on January 9 for a hearing pertaining to his federal case.
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Neither trial has been scheduled.
Mangione's lawyers claim that Attorney General Pam Bondi was biased in her decision to seek the death penalty against him in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the defense wrote in a court filing Friday.
Bondi was a partner at Ballard Partners before leading the Justice Department's charge to turn Mangione's federal prosecution into a capital case, the filing stated.
Mangione's lawyers said they want to investigate Bondi's ties to Ballard and the firm's relationship with UnitedHealth Group.
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The 'very person' empowered to seek Mangione's death 'has a financial stake in the case she is prosecuting,' his attorneys alleged in the filing.
Her conflict of interest 'should have caused her to recuse herself from making any decisions on this case,' they added.
The defense will ask for various materials, including details of Bondi's compensation from the firm and any direction she's given Justice Department employees regarding the case or UnitedHealthcare.
They will all seek sworn testimony from 'all individuals with personal knowledge of the relevant matters.'
Bondi announced in April that she was directing prosecutors to seek the death penalty and declared before Mangione was formally charged that capital punishment was warranted for a 'premeditated, cold-blooded assassination.'
The defense argued that involving herself in the death penalty decision and making public statements suggesting that Mangione deserves execution, Bondi broke the vows she made before taking office in February, the filing added.
The alleged conflict of interest could have been avoided had Bondi recused herself from the case and appointed a special prosecutor.
Brian Thompson, 50, was killed December 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group's annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind.
Mangione was arrested eating breakfast at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after suspicious customers recognized him and alerted staff, who dialed 911.
Friday's filing put the focus back on Mangione's federal case a day after a marathon pretrial hearing ended in his fight to bar prosecutors in his state case from using certain evidence found during his arrest, such as a gun that police said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which he purportedly described his intent to 'wack' a health insurance executive. A ruling isn't expected until May.
Mangione's defense team has zeroed in on Bondi's past lobbying work as they seek to convince the judge to rule out capital punishment, throw out some charges and exclude the same evidence they want suppressed from the state case.
In a September court filing, Mangione's lawyers argued that Bondi´s announcement that she was ordering prosecutors to seek the death penalty - which she followed with Instagram posts and a TV appearance - showed the decision was 'based on politics, not merit.'
They also said her remarks tainted the grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks later.
Bondi's statements and other official actions - including a highly choreographed perp walk that saw Mangione led up a Manhattan pier by armed officers, and the Trump administration's flouting of established death penalty procedures - 'have violated Mr. Mangione´s constitutional and statutory rights and have fatally prejudiced this death penalty case,' his lawyers said.
In a court filing last month, federal prosecutors argued that 'pretrial publicity, even when intense, is not itself a constitutional defect.'
Rather than dismissing the case outright or barring the government from seeking the death penalty, prosecutors argued, the defense's concerns can best be alleviated by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case and ensuring Mangione´s rights are respected at trial.
'What the defendant recasts as a constitutional crisis is merely a repackaging of arguments' rejected in previous cases, prosecutors said.
'None warrants dismissal of the indictment or categorical preclusion of a congressionally authorized punishment.'
Prosecutors allege Mangione is the suspect who was caught on surveillance footage shooting Thompson at point-blank range on December 4, 2024.
Thompson, 50, was killed December 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group's annual investor conference.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind.
Police say 'delay,' 'deny' and 'depose' were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione was arrested five days later at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles west of Manhattan.
The crime and Mangione's ensuing arrest led him to become somewhat of a celebrity, with his fans saying that he had taken a 'bite out of corruption.'