District Attorney Bondi’s intention to seek the death penalty for alleged murderer and confirmed heartthrob Luigi Mangione if he is convicted on federal charges signals the Trump Administration is serious about restarting death penalty prosecutions, a sharp reversal from the policies of President Biden.
Ms. Bondi explains in a statement issued on Tuesday that “Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.” Thompson was the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare. Footage appears to show Mr. Mangione slaying him at Midtown Manhattan on the morning of December 4. A subsequent manhunt riveted the nation.
Mr. Mangione has pleaded “not guilty” to the charges against him. He was eventually arrested at a McDonald’s at Altoona, Pennsylvania. Bullet casings found at the scene of the crime were inscribed with the words “Delay, Deny, Depose,” which are allegedly tactics insurance companies deploy to avoid paying claims. Police found a 3D-printed gun on his person as well as a 262-page handwritten document castigating the health insurance system.
The attorney general adds that she will “seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.” Ms. Bondi ventures that Thompson’s murder was “an act of political violence” that “involved substantial planning and premeditation.” Since “the murder took place in public” — on West 54th Street — it may “have posed grave risk of death to additional persons.”
The responsibility for making the case for the death penalty in court will fall on the acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Matthew Podolsky. Mr. Podolsky assumed the role after the previous incumbent, Danielle Sassoon, resigned following the Trump Administration’s request that she drop the criminal bribery charges against Mayor Adams.
Mr. Mangione, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, faces both state — New York — and federal charges. New York has outlawed the death penalty even as both state and federal executions were confirmed as constitutional in a Supreme Court case from 1976, Gregg v. Georgia. Gregg held that the death penalty was not per se unconstitutional because it could serve the socially useful functions.
Twenty-seven states currently have capital punishment, as does the federal government. The DOJ has charged Mr. Mangione with “Murder through use of a firearm,” which carries the possibility of execution in the event of conviction. Mr. Mangione faces the prospect of life in prison without parole on account of the charges handed up in the Empire State.
Though capital punishment is constitutional, Mr. Biden all but banished it as a prosecutorial possibility. The most recent federal execution took place on the eve of Mr. Biden’s inauguration in January, 2021. Upon taking office Mr. Biden declared a moratorium on all federal executions, and in December he commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates currently sitting on death row. More than 2,000 people are facing death sentences at the state level.
State executions have picked up pace in recent years – after slowing down dramatically due to a shortage of lethal drugs – as Southern states began experimenting with alternative methods such as asphyxiation by nitrogen gas and the firing squad.
Ms. Bondi, who as Florida’s attorney general rescheduled an execution to attend her own fundraiser (she later apologized), is intent on reversing the federal chill on executions. In January she issued a “Day One Memo” entitled “Reviving The Federal Death Penalty And Lifting The Moratorium On Federal Executions.” It argues that “Since our Nation’s founding, the federal government, and nearly every state, has relied upon the death penalty as a just punishment.” Ms. Bondi calls Mr. Biden’s retreat from the death penalty “shameful.”
On Inauguration Day Mr. Trump issued an executive order mandating that “The Attorney General shall pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use” and commanding Ms. Bondi to “seek the overruling of Supreme Court precedents that limit the authority of State and Federal governments to impose capital punishment.” The order could be a direct response to Mr. Biden’s commutations, which were the object of opprobrium from victims’ families.
If Mr. Mangione is convicted, a separate “mini-trial” will then be held to determine if he will face execution. The decision must be made by a jury, who are tasked with weighing “aggravating” and “mitigating” factors in determining if the defendant’s life is forfeit. A jury’s decision must be unanimous in order to impose death.
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