Summary
The Pennsylvania attorney representing Luigi Mangione, charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, contends Mangione’s arrest in Altoona was unconstitutional.
Officers supposedly approached him without cause and failed to read his Miranda rights at a McDonald’s after a five-day manhunt.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murder and related state and federal charges, including potential death penalty eligibility.
Mangione’s New York lawyer likewise cites constitutional violations during arrest, raising the possibility that key evidence could be suppressed.
The jury doesn’t have to be ignorant, they have to be able to take the information they are given during the trial and render a generally unbiased decision based on that information. And that decision is made by the Judge, Prosecution and Defense teams. That’s the entire reason for the Voir Dire process, it’s designed to weed out biases on both sides that can compromise the trial.
Of course the defense will bring up things like the state of US healthcare, specifically United Healthcare and their processes, etc. so jurors having a bias solely based on that won’t matter, as much because that’s going to almost surely be introduced during the trial anyway.
That being said… good luck finding 12 jurors who both sides trust can be unbiased enough, and can render a unanimous decision in the current societal climate. And if the first is a mistrial, finding a second set will be even harder.
The first will definitely be a mistrial. I don’t condone violence but even I wouldn’t find him guilty under the circumstances.