Luigi Mangione’s defense team filed a formal notice on Thursday with the New York state judge presiding over his murder case, announcing they are withdrawing their intent to pursue a psychiatric defense. This development arrives just one day after Judge Gregory Carro unsealed the defense’s initial notice, which had indicated a potential strategy to argue that Mangione was suffering from “extreme emotional disturbance” at the time of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. Mangione continues to maintain his innocence, having pleaded not guilty to all state and federal charges.
“The defense respectfully withdraws CPL 250.10 notice at this time,” stated the brief email communication signed by attorneys Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Marc Agnifilo, and Jacob Kaplan. Both the defense and the prosecution declined to provide further comment when reached by Rolling Stone.
The withdrawal leaves the defense’s strategy for the upcoming state murder trial, currently scheduled for September, in a state of uncertainty. An “extreme emotional disturbance” (EED) defense, had it been pursued and accepted by a jury, could have potentially reduced a murder conviction to manslaughter, resulting in a significantly lighter sentence. The initial notice, filed on September 30, 2025, had been kept under seal until Judge Carro’s order on Wednesday. During that hearing, the judge had warned the defense that they risked losing the ability to utilize the EED defense if they did not provide sufficient documentation regarding the specific nature of the alleged distress.
“They need to know what the malady is that this defendant suffers and how that triggered extreme emotional disturbance at the time and place of the occurrence,” Judge Carro remarked to Friedman Agnifilo. “Nothing is going to be a surprise. I’m not going to let you surprise the prosecution on the eve of trial.”
Friedman Agnifilo had previously argued that the notice should remain sealed due to its potential impact on Mangione’s separate federal case, noting that an EED defense is not recognized under federal law. With the state-level psychiatric defense now off the table, the legal proceedings move toward a virtual hearing on August 11, with the state trial slated to begin on September 8. Federal proceedings are expected to follow in the subsequent months.