In a reversal, the judge overseeing Luigi Mangione's federal trial on Monday ordered a hearing to determine whether his backpack was lawfully searched during his arrest at a McDonald's restaurant in December 2024.
Judge Margaret Garnett's decision comes days after she said she did not believe it was necessary to hold an evidentiary hearing in the trial of the 27-year-old man charged with fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione was taken into custody in a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9, 2024. The arrest ended a five-day manhunt for the person suspected of gunning down Thompson outside the New York Hilton Midtown.
Garnett has asked U.S. government prosecutors to secure testimony from an Altoona Police Department officer concerning whether "established or standardized procedures" were followed during law enforcement's encounter with Mangione.
The judge said the hearing will be brief and ordered parties to confer on dates and times in the next two weeks.
Garnett also ordered U.S. government prosecutors to provide the court with a copy of the affidavit used in support of the federal search warrant and any related documents.
Authorities have said Mangione was carrying a backpack containing a ghost gun, fake IDs, a notebook and other writings detailing his grievances against the private health care system in the United States.
Investigators found a three-page handwritten document that referred to the health care industry and included the phrase "these parasites simply had it coming," law enforcement sources previously told NBC News.
Separately, Garnett is considering the defense team's request to dismiss two of the four federal charges against Mangione: a count of murder through use of a firearm, which carries a maximum sentence of death, and a count on a firearms offense.
Mangione also faces two federal stalking counts. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mangione's lawyers have argued in court filings that federal prosecutors prejudiced his case by turning his December 2024 arrest into a "scene out of a Marvel movie" and portraying him as a "shackled monster" who deserved the death penalty.
The prosecution has rejected that premise, saying the charges against him are suitable.
Garnett has tentatively scheduled the start of jury selection for Sept. 8, followed by opening statements as early as October, but that timetable may not hold.
Mangione also faces nine counts in a case brought by New York state prosecutors, including second-degree murder and various weapons charges. He has pleaded not guilty in that case, too.
