Luigi Mangione Charged with the Stalking and Murder. Analysis With NY Trial Attorney David Schwartz, Lobbyist, & President of Gotham Government Relations ‪@livenowfox‬

Youtbube transcript
0:01 big story here, the man 0:03 accused of fatally shooting 0:04 the CEO of United 0:06 Healthcare outside of a 0:07 hotel. in Midtown Manhattan 0:09 could be sentenced to death 0:11 if convicted Luigi Manion 0:13 was charged Thursday with 0:15 Federal counts of stalking. 0:16 and murder making him 0:18
eligible for the death 0:19 penalty. Manion is being 0:21 held without bail after 0:23 appearing in Manhattan
0:24 Federal courtroom, hours 0:26 after his court appearance 0:27 over, in Blair County, 0:28 Pennsylvania, not too far 0:30 from, where he was arrested 0:31 in Altoona. the 26 0:33 year old waived extradition 0:35
and was flown to New York 0:36 where Brian Thompson was 0:38 fatally shot back on 0:39 December 4th. in a 0:41 New York state Court, 0:42 indictment, the Manhattan 0:43 district Attorney's office 0:45 charged, mangioni with 0:46 quote murder as an act of 0:48 terrorism which does carry a 0:49 maximum penalty of Life in 0:51 prison. Manion's lawyer 0:53 said, it's a quote, 0:55 highly unusual. Situation. 0:56 for a defendant to face 0:58 simultaneously. State and 1:00 federal charges. 1:02 Investigators allege when 1:02 they took mangioni in the 1:04 custody at a McDonald's in 1:06 Altoona. he had the gun 1:07 used to kill Thompson and 1:09 they also say he had a 1:11 spiral notebook That 1:12 included handwritten Pages. 1:14 Expressing hostility toward 1:16 the health insurance 1:17 industry. and against wealthy 1:19 Executives. I do want to just
1:21 discussed this all just 1:22 a little bit further. So 1:23 let's bring in David 1:24 Schwarz, a New York. trial 1:25 attorney. and former 1:27 prosecutor. Thank you so 1:28 much for taking the time 1:30 to be here with us
1:31 today. Thank you. 1:33 of course. Well, I do want 1:34 to start talking about the 1:36 death penalty situation Now, 1:37 we know that, mangioni does 1:39 face those federal charges 1:41 now. So would the death 1:43 penalty be on the table if 1:44 not for those federal 1:46 charges? No. absolutely not 1:49 New York state does not 1:50 have a death penalty, but 1:51 there is a death penalty in 1:53 the federal code and 1:54 therefore on the federal 1:56 case of Murder by using a 1:58 gun. uh, it is death 2:00 penalty eligible. although 2:02 very unusual. If 2:04 eligible, although very 2:05 unusual. If Nan gone is 2:06 convicted, could he 2:07 actually be sentenced to 2:08 death? Is that a 2:09 legitimate option who makes 2:10 the call? I know that's 2:12 kind of hard to tell right 2:13 now. as all of this is 2:14 just developing, and, 2:16 you know, you have a case 2:17 by case basis situation, 2:18 but what can you tell me? 2:20 Yeah. so there there there 2:22 are several phases to this. 2:23 So, first of all, the 2:24 prosecutors make the call, 2:26 as to, whether or not 2:26
they're going to charge the 2:28 death penalty. and that 2:29 could be taken off the table 2:31 at any time even though 2:32 it's on the table right 2:33 now. and then, if it is a 2:36 death penalty case, uh, it 2:38 it has to go through 2:39 several phases. First, 2:41 there's the guilt. phase of 2:42 the case, And then after the 2:44
guilt phase, there's a 2:45 second phase. The death 2:47 penalty, uh, phase of the 2:48 case. And that's when the 2:49 jury decides whether or not 2:51 the defendant will face the 2:53 will get the death penalty 2:54 or life in prison without 2:57 parole. I do want to play 2:58 this sound bite right here. 2:59 This is a very short 1
3:01 that did come from the 3:03 actual attorney for 3:04 mangioni again. very 3:06 brief. We're going to 3:08 respectfully. decline to 3:09 make any comment at 3:11 this time. Uh, but Mr. 3:13 Manion appreciates
3:14 everyone's support. it 3:16 sounds as though his 3:17 attorney is pretty. well 3:19 known at this point. 3:20 Pretty high power. What 3:21 do we know about her? 3:24 Well, she's a very, she's an 3:25 excellent attorney. Uh he's 3:26 being very well 3:28 represented. Uh, she's known 3:30 in in in the circles, in 3:32 New York. and Beyond. So 3:34 he's gonna get excellent 3:35 represent. And then if he 3:37 is facing the death 3:39 penalty, he'll have another 3:40 attorney in court, 3:42 a special. death penalty, 3:43 uh, attorney who specializes 3:46 in um, in all the in 3:48 really bringing forth 3:50 mitigating factors So the 3:52 defendant would not get the 3:53 death penalty, but this is 3:55 all very unusual. right? 3:57 And I, I do have to ask 3:58
because you heard her at the 3:59 end of that. very brief 4:01 statement saying that uh 4:03 mangioni does. Thank all the 4:04 people out there for their 4:05 support. So my question 4:06 is that that factor in to 4:08
any of this? How much 4:09 support he is receiving 4:10 from folks there? in the 4:12 public we had people that 4:13 were lined up yesterday 4:15 outside of the courthouse 4:16 wearing uh Luigi hats from 4:18 the Mario brothers. So does 4:20 that factor in in any way 4:21 And is that good for the 4:23 defense? Well, the in a 4:24 case like this, there's 4:26 always the court of public 4:27 opinion. So of of of 4:29 course, you know he's being 4:32 couched in the public 4:32 opinion. a certain way. and 4:35 unfortunately, he has he 4:37 does have these supporters 4:38 that, you know, support him. 4:41 even though he committed a 4:42 cold-blooded murder on on 4:44 camera, Certainly. the 4:47 there's a certain portion of 4:50 this case that you're
4:51 trying. in the court of 4:52 public opinion. you have 4:53 to uh, as a defense 4:55 attorney. you would like
4:57 none of this to be 4:58 in the court. of public 4:59 opinion. and really 5:02 analyzed. uh by a jury. But 5:04 unfortunately in this 5:06 kind of case, the jury will 5:08 be influenced by what 5:09 they hear in the public 5:11 because you can't help but 5:12 not hear about this case 5:13 in the public domain. I was 5:15
going to say it's all over 5:16 the news all over 5:18 everything. So it is very 5:19 hard to find. People who 5:20
haven't heard about the case 5:22 overall. So, cameras were 5:24 not allowed in the courtroom 5:25 for manion's preliminary 5:27 hearing or the extradition 5:28 hearing what you're looking 5:29 at Is some of the photos. 5:30 the sketches that were 5:32 made by folks who were 5:33 allowed in there. as a 5:35 criminal defense attorney a 5:37 trial attorney there. and a 5:38 former prosecutor. how 5:40 do you feel about? cameras 5:41 being allowed in the 5:42 courtroom that can 5:43 broadcast? a hearing or 5:45 even a trial to the public? 5:46 So so everyone out there 5:48 can watch right? I I have 5:50 mixed feelings about it. I, 5:51
you know, certainly you know 5:53 you have to weigh the the 5:55 various factors of the 5:57 Public's interest in 5:58 watching the case and our 6:00 criminal justice. system 6:01 being shown to a a large 6:05 audience, you know. of a a 6:07 broad audience and certainly 6:09 that would favor cameras 6:11 being in the courtroom. 6:12 On the other hand. you have 6:14 to weigh that against the 6:16 defendant's right To a fair
6:17 trial and the question 6:19 always becomes, are they 6:19 getting a a fair trial? 6:22 with the cameras in the 6:23 courtroom are the attorneys? 6:25 performing for the cameras? 6:26 is the judge. Now going to 6:28
perform for the cameras you 6:30 would like to think that 6:31 the trial will be the same 6:33 exact trial whether or not 6:35 the cameras are there or 6:36 not. But the overwhelming 6:38 concern is the concern for
6:39 your client. and their Sixth 6:41 Amendment right? To a fair 6:42 trial, So, you have to 6:45 weigh that. Um, and and 6:46 again, I have mixed 6:47 feelings about it. I tend 6:49 to favor cameras in the 6:51 courtroom because I don't 6:52 think uh a defense attorney 6:55 will try their case any 6:57 differently whether or not 6:58 There's a camera in the 6:59 courtroom or not. And 7:00 I'd like to think that a 7:02 judge will perform the same 7:03 exact way. whether or not 7:05 there's a camera in the 7:06 courtroom or not. but it's, 7:08 it's certainly a concern for 7:08 the defense. We did hear 7:11 mangioni actually scream 7:12 toward the camera. not 7:13 yesterday. He was quiet, 7:15 then but uh, about a week 7:16 or so ago, we heard from
7:18 him, he made a very brief 7:20 comment as he was escorted 7:21 into either. the jail or 7:23 the courthouse. I would 7:24 imagine. criminal defense 7:26 attorneys do not want their 7:28 clients to be speaking. to 7:30 members of the media, as 7:31 all of this is unfolding. 7:34 Absolutely not you. You you 7:35
want your client. Um, to 7:37 remain silent throughout 7:38 all the proceedings including 7:40 before the proceedings. 7:41 That's where most of the 7:43 damage is done. uh those 7:45 that know that they 7:46
should when they're being 7:48 questioned by a government 7:49 official by a member of 7:51 law enforcement. is to stay 7:53 silent until you have 7:54 a chance to have your 7:55 attorney. uh present. So 7:57 that's what we always 7:58 advise our clients. This 8:00 can be used against him 8:01 later on and certainly you 8:03 don't want um 1 of those 8:05 scenes. where he's just 8:07 screaming at the cameras for
8:08 sure. my last question, 8:10 what happens to those 8:11 charges that he does have 8:13 in Pennsylvania again, he 8:14 was arrested. in Altoona 8:17 at a McDonald's. There. and 8:17 he was arrested on several 8:19
charges. So now that he's 8:21 over in New York, facing 8:22 state and federal charges 8:24 there, what happens to the 8:25 ones over in Pennsylvania? 8:27 Do they just kind of 8:28 disappear? I, I believe 8:30
they're going to disappear 8:31 if he's convicted on a 8:32 capital murder case. Uh, 8:34 facing uh life in jail
8:36 without parole or possibly. 8:38 as Slim as it is. The 8:40 death penalty. Uh, 8:42 you're you're going to see 8:42 those charges in 8:43 Pennsylvania. go away But 8:44 they're going to remain 8:45 open. uh, for a period of 8:47 time and they could remain 8:48 open and, and perpetuity 8:50 really but I I don't see him 8:52 ever going back to 8:53 Pennsylvania. after the 8:55 New York case. Uh, to face 8:57 those charges. All right, 9:00 David, thank you so much 9:01 for taking the time to 9:02 join us and help discuss 9:03 this a little bit further. 9:04 We appreciate your legal 9:06 expertise. Is there 9:07 anything else you want to 9:08 add about any of this 9:08 before I let you go? well, 9:11 you know, hopefully. uh the 9:13 defendant does have a fair 9:14 trial and hopefully all the 9:16 evidence is is brought in 9:17 against. I think it's very 9:18 important. that the process 9:20 you know, remain. the, the 9:22 way the way the process 9:24 intended and that he gets a 9:25 fair trial. uh, pursuant 9:27 to the sixth amendment and 9:28 um, and let the jury decide. 9:31
All right, thank you again