Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges stemming from the assassination-style killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan in December 2024. Federal judge Margaret Garnett said Mangione would stand trial in October if she eliminates the death penalty as a possible sentence, as the defense has sought. Otherwise, she said at a hearing last week, Mangione would stand trial in January. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said there are “significant state interests” in putting Mangione on trial sooner. “It is entirely natural then that the state case would proceed to trial prior to the federal case,” Seidemann’s letter said.