Luigi Mangione's legal team has decided to no longer argue psychiatric defence in the murder trial for the killing of United Healthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson.
Mangione's attorneys changed the action plan a day after telling Judge Gregory Carro that they would try to show he was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the occurrence".
The 28-year-old pleaded not guilty in both the federal and state cases against him for the fatal shooting of Thompson in midtown Manhattan at the end of 2024.
The decision came ahead of a Thursday, June 18, deadline Mangione's team was facing to provide prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney's office with information in support of the psychiatric defence claim.
If Mangione had gone ahead with the psychiatric defence and the jury accepted it, then he could have faced a shorter prison sentence, as he might have faced a conviction for manslaughter instead of murder.
On Wednesday, Mangione appeared in court, as the judge spoke about his then-planned psychiatric defence.
His next court date is scheduled for August 11, before the state trial begins on September 8.
The Ivy League graduate is also facing federal stalking charges, which can bring a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Luigi Mangione was arrested days after Thompson was fatally shot from behind by a masked gunman on December 4, 2024, as he walked into a Manhattan hotel for an annual investor conference.
