The individual, a former Ivy League computer scientist who is suspected of being a corporate assassin, is unlikely to be charged at the federal level. This situation also eliminates the possibility of facing the death penalty since the state of New York does not have such a penalty, according to experts.
In general, murder cases do not fall under federal jurisdiction unless they involve specific circumstances. For example, orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme that involves a hitman crossing state lines is considered a federal crime. However, if the perpetrator crosses state lines themselves to commit the act, it does not typically fall under federal jurisdiction.
At 26 years old, Luigi Mangione is currently facing a second-degree murder charge in the state of New York relating to the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thompson was fatally shot by a masked assailant outside a Hilton hotel in Manhattan on December 4. New York’s laws regarding murder differ from those of most other states, with first-degree charges being reserved for specific cases, such as the killing of a law enforcement officer or involvement in mass murders.
“It’s possible, but not likely, that Mangione is charged federally,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who now runs a private practice in Los Angeles. “The case has gotten a lot of attention, and there is no knowing what Trump’s Department of Justice will do, but a federal prosecution requires a federal jurisdictional hook, like the commission of another federal crime or a substantial nexus to interstate commerce.”
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group)
“New York outlawed the death penalty 20 years ago, so capital punishment is not an option there,” Rahmani said. “But even if Mangione is charged federally, the only aggravating factor to support the death penalty is that the murder involved substantial planning and premeditation.”
Capital punishment is typically reserved for the worst of the worst criminal cases. Even if New York had a death penalty, other aggravators such as additional victims, the defendant’s criminal history or that the murder took place during the commission of another felony don’t exist in this case, he said.
Luigi Mangione (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
“It wasn’t an act of terrorism or similarly heinous offense,” he said. “Aside from all the attention it has received, this would normally not be a death penalty case.”
On top of that, it’s rare for the federal government to seek the death penalty, but it does happen in cases of extreme violence, such as in the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three and wounded hundreds. Prosecutors can use it as leverage to get a confession.
Sending bombs through the mail, like the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, is also a federal crime. He killed himself in prison last year while serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Justice Department records show the federal government has executed 16 people since 2001, beginning with the deaths of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and, eight days later, American drug trafficker Juan Raul Garza, who had two men killed and executed a third himself.
The suspected gunman in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder, believed to be Luigi Mangione, is seen flirting with a hostel employee on surveillance footage before the Dec. 4 shooting. (NYPD)
Notably, 13 of those executions came during President Trump’s first term in office. He returns to the White House next month and has signaled that he would expand the death penalty.
There are currently 40 federal inmates on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and the list includes surviving Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as well as Dylann Roof, who massacred nine parishioners in a South Carolina church.
The changing of hands from the Biden-Harris administration to Trump’s second administration could also hinder a potential federal case, Rahmani added.
“The other wrinkle is Trump’s new U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York won’t be confirmed and sworn in for more than a month at the earliest, and the Manhattan DA’s Office will be well into the case by then,” he said. “Under the DOJ’s ‘Petite Policy,’ federal prosecutors don’t step into a pending state case unless there is a substantial federal interest that isn’t vindicated in the state prosecution.”
