Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro blocked New York prosecutors from using specific evidence Monday in the murder trial of Luigi Mangione. Authorities accused Mangione of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. The ruling suppresses items Pennsylvania police seized from the defendant’s backpack at a McDonald’s.
The suppressed materials include a loaded ammunition magazine, a cellphone, a passport, a wallet, and a computer chip that Pennsylvania police seized during the initial detention. Judge Carro determined that Mangione did not sufficiently control the backpack when officers performed the search. However, the court permitted the use of a 3D-printed gun and a journal that police later inventoried at their headquarters.
“The evidence found during the search of the backpack at the McDonald’s must be suppressed,” Judge Carro wrote in his decision. Prosecutors continue to link the 3D-printed firearm they discovered in the bag to the fatal shooting of the 50-year-old CEO on a Midtown Manhattan street.
The ruling drew national attention after multiple reports identified the cellphone and passport as part of the prosecution’s evidence tied to Mangione’s alleged movements before the Dec. 4 shooting.
Public challenges evidence integrity in Mangione trial
A legal forum participant claimed the suppression of evidence “kinda puts a major bullet in the prosecution’s case”. Another contributor in the thread suggested the impact was “Probably a low velocity one from some other random person or persons”.
“The notebook was totally fake,” an observer claimed, arguing that “It reads like the writing of a cop”. A separate contributor noted, “Thank GOD cops have NEVER planted evidence on a person to just get a high pressure high profile cased closed ASAP”.
One observer argued the ruling reflects a “tiered justice system where the rich can commit whatever crimes they want”.
“They just want a more complicated version of a feudal system,” a member of the thread added.
One participant argued that “it will be relatively easy to find a pool of jurors who know absolutely nothing about this case”.
“A shocking percentage of people don’t read the news at all,” a second contributor suggested.
The public dispute over the integrity of admissible materials remains unresolved as the prosecution prepares to present the recovered firearm and journal at trial.
