As soon as Donald Trump’s fascists took over the federal government one year ago, something weird happened to the Department of Justice. Traditionally, every White House has tried to construct a Chinese Wall around their political and administrative activities versus the DOJ’s investigations and prosecutions. The president (any president) is not supposed to interfere, influence or disrupt Justice’s work. Well, Trump’s “reelection” caused a lot of resignations within the DOJ, and those who stayed found themselves eventually pushed out, demoted or forced into capitulation with the Trump agenda. This has led to a rise of walking incompetents and political actors within the Trump DOJ. In the past year, full-on Republican lawyers who agree with Trump about 90% of his agenda have been purged from Justice in various purity tests or harebrained political schemes.

All of which to say, the DOJ will have a really tough time prosecuting the cases on their docket, and even if they do get some of these people to trial, they’re not going to get convictions. That’s bad news for victims and survivors of federal crimes. It’s good news for people like Luigi Mangione though. Luigi will no longer face the death penalty in the federal prosecution of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024, a federal district judge ruled Friday, dealing a blow to US prosecutors who were adamant about pursuing the ultimate sentence.

The judge dismissed the murder charge that would have made the 27-year-old eligible for the death penalty in his federal case because it requires that the killing was committed during another “crime of violence.” Prosecutors alleged the other crimes of violence were represented by two stalking charges, arguing Mangione stalked Thompson online and travelled across state lines to carry out the killing. The judge disagreed, finding the stalking charges did not amount to “crimes of violence” and dismissed two counts in Mangione’s federal case – the murder charge and a related firearm offense.

“The analysis contained in the balance of this Opinion may strike the average person – and indeed many lawyers and judges – as tortured and strange, and the result may seem contrary to our intuitions about the criminal law,” Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in her ruling. “But it represents the Court’s committed effort to faithfully apply the dictates of the Supreme Court to the charges in this case.”

The ruling is a boon for Mangione and his attorneys, who had made several arguments to avoid the death penalty. And it’s sure to galvanize his many supporters, who see Mangione as an avatar for their resentment and anger towards the American health care system.

In court Friday, an assistant US attorney indicated he did not yet know whether the Justice Department would appeal the judge’s ruling on the death penalty. Judge Garnett asked for an update by February 27.

Garnett denied as moot the defense’s other motions regarding the death penalty. She said the only motion that may still be relevant in a non-capital case is regarding pre-trial publicity. She suggested the defense “table that for now” until prosecutors make a decision on appealing, and then they can renew that motion with a new brief at a later time.

The murder charge was the only count in any of the cases brought against Mangione that could have carried a possible death sentence. He will still face two counts of stalking in the federal case. If convicted, those counts have a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

[From CNN]

The feds genuinely treated Luigi like they had captured Bin Laden, and it makes sense that after the dust has settled, things are sort of backtracking and the judge is chipping away at the federal case against Luigi. Now, this same judge did say that the contents of Luigi’s (alleged) backpack are still admissible at trial. But I feel strongly that Luigi’s lawyers are going to have a field day with the wonky chain of custody on the backpack. Additionally, Luigi is facing state charges in New York. Which, in my opinion, is probably more of a concern for Luigi’s legal team. But I just feel like the (Trump) DOJ is going to f–k up the federal case in a major way.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty Images, Backgrid, Luigi’s mugshot.