#Socialites, come get into this: This Monday morning, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro ruled that New York state prosecutors cannot use a massive haul of key evidence seized from Luigi Mangione’s backpack during his viral 2024 arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s. But don’t expect him to walk free just yet….
When the national manhunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ended at a fast-food joint in Altoona, PA, back in December 2024, the internet watched in real-time as police swarmed Mangione. Officers immediately dug into his backpack, discovering a treasure trove of incriminating items.
The defense team, which includes high-profile attorneys Marc Agnifilo, Jacob Kaplan, and Teny Geragos, argued that the scene was treated like a “Marvel movie spectacle” and that cops violated Mangione’s Fourth Amendment rights by searching his bag on the spot without a warrant.
Judge Carro agreed. In his ruling, Carro called the initial search an “improper warrantless search,” pointing out that the backpack was sitting on a table and was not within Mangione’s immediate physical reach or control once he was surrounded by over eight officers.
Because of that technicality, the judge officially suppressed: The cell phone, The laptop/computer chip, The passport and wallet, A gun magazine
Furthermore, because police didn’t immediately read Mangione his Miranda rights while he was boxed in by a small army of officers, any sneaky statements he made to the cops at the fast-food joint, like trying to explain why he gave them a fake name, are completely barred from the upcoming state trial. Whew!
The Silver Lining for Prosecutors
Before the defense could pop the champagne, Judge Carro dropped the second half of his ruling.
While the stuff pulled out inside the McDonald’s is dead in the water for the state, the most damning pieces of evidence are still totally allowed in court. The judge ruled that once the backpack was taken to the police station, the subsequent search was a legally sound, standard “inventory search.”
Because officers didn’t actually open or examine certain items until they got to the precinct, prosecutors are cleared to use the absolute heavy hitters of their case: the 3D-Printed Gun & Silencer along with the notebook/manifesto.
Legal experts say keeping the gun and the manifesto is a saving grace for the DA.
Mangione, who recently made waves by shouting in court that facing two back-to-back trials for the same crime was “double jeopardy by any common sense definition,” managed to get both trials pushed back so his legal team could breathe. His state murder trial is locked in for September 8, 2026, while his federal trial has been kicked into January 2027.