A Manhattan judge on Tuesday tossed the State of New York’s two terrorism charges against UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s assassin Luigi Mangione, ruling that the counts in the indictment stretched too far on the definition of terrorism and ignored “other, more explicit excerpts from defendant’s writings in which he states that his goal is to spread a ‘message’ and ‘win public support’ about ‘everything wrong with our health system.’ Therefore, the court finds that the People failed to establish an intent to ‘influence’ or ‘affect’ government. This court will focus on the intent element that both sides appear to emphasize – the intimidation or coercion of a civilian population.”
Mangione’s defense however took a bigger ding on another key ruling, pausing the state trial so the federal one could proceed first, the argument being that a conviction at the state level could prejudice his case in federal court – where he faces the death penalty. Judge said no dice on that.