A judge has thrown out the top counts in Luigi Mangione’s state murder case — rejecting claims that the accused killer can be charged as a terrorist — in a huge blow to prosecutors.
In a ruling released Tuesday, Judge Gregory Carro tossed charges of murder in the first degree as an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism against the 27-year-old Ivy League grad.
The judge did keep alive Mangione’s other second-degree murder charge for allegedly executing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood outside the health care company’s investor conference on Dec. 4, 2024.
“The People presented sufficient evidence that the defendant murdered Brian Thompson in a premeditated and calculated execution. That does not mean, however, that the defendant did so with terroristic intent,” Carro wrote in his decision.
The ruling means that Mangione still faces 25-years-to-life in the state case, but that he will be eligible for parole if convicted at trial. The accused assassin had previously faced 25-years-to-life without the possibility of parole on the first-degree murder rap.
Mangione also still faces separate federal charges that carry a possible death penalty.
Carro announced the bombshell ruling during a 15-minute hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court that Mangione attended wearing a tan prison outfit over a maroon shirt.
As he was led out of the room in shackles, the scion of a wealthy Baltimore family raised his eyebrows while looking toward two dozen of his supporters, mostly young women, seated in the back of the courtroom gallery.
Carro’s tossing of the top charges comes after some legal experts told The Post in December that it was a “reach” to charge Mangione as a terrorist.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was “wildly overcharging” Mangione in an attempt to make a “great headline,” veteran defense attorney Ron Kuby said at the time.
In New York state, murder in the first degree is typically charged in the rare cases involving victims who are law enforcement members, possible witnesses to crimes, firefighters or medical personnel. It can also use it in alleged terrorism cases.
Bragg’s office had argued that Mangione should be considered a terrorist because he meant to kill Thompson to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population” — a claim that the judge rejected Tuesday.
“The defendant’s apparent objective, as stated in his writings, was not to threaten, intimidate, or coerce, but rather, to draw attention to what he perceived as the greed of the insurance industry,” Carro wrote.
Evidence presented to the grand jury that indicted Mangione in December was legally “insufficient” to support the terrorism charges, the judge ruled.
Mangione’s remaining charge of second-degree murder means he’s still charged with intentionally killing Thompson, a father-of-two — just not as an act of terrorism.
The University of Pennsylvania grad is due back in court on the state case on Dec. 1.
A DA’s Office spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday, “We respect the Court’s decision and will proceed on the remaining nine counts, including Murder in the Second Degree.”
Mangione is also due back in court on Dec. 5 in the federal case, in which US Attorney Pam Bondi has announced plans to take the rare step of asking for the death penalty.
Prosecutors have said that Mangione plotted Thompson’s murder to make a political point about a healthcare industry that he mused in his diary “extracts human life force for money.”
The accused killer etched “deny,’ “depose” and “defend” on bullets that were recovered at the scene, phrases that echo terms the healthcare industry has been accused of using to reject claims.
