What the Judge Actually Decided

Judge Gregory Carro dropped his long-awaited evidence ruling on May 18 in the New York state murder case against Luigi Mangione, 27, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street on December 4, 2024.

The headline: prosecutors keep the gun and the notebook. Those are the two most damaging pieces of evidence — the alleged murder weapon and a written document that, according to PBS News, describes wanting to "wack" a health insurance executive.

What prosecutors lose: a loaded magazine, a cellphone, a passport, a wallet, and a computer chip — all found during an initial search of Mangione's backpack at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald's.

Carro's reasoning was clean. The McDonald's search happened before Mangione was handcuffed, in public, in front of employees — and police did NOT have a warrant. Carro called it an "improper warrantless search" and rejected the prosecution's argument that exigent circumstances justified it.

"Even if the backpack could be seen as within the defendant's control or grabbable area, the People did not meet their burden of demonstrating exigency," Carro wrote, according to The Guardian.

The Station Search Is What Saves Prosecutors

Once Mangione was in custody and transported to Altoona police headquarters, officers conducted what's called an inventory search of the backpack — standard procedure when booking a suspect. That's where they found the 3D-printed pistol and the notebook.

Inventory searches are a recognized constitutional exception to the warrant requirement. Carro ruled that search was valid.

Police later obtained a proper search warrant hours after the arrest, according to PBS News. By then, the inventory search had already secured the critical evidence.

Some Statements Are Out Too

Carro also excluded some of Mangione's early statements to police — specifically questions about whether he lied about his name and whether he had a fake ID, according to BBC News. Those happened before he was properly Mirandized.

Statements made after he was formally in custody ARE allowed in.

This is standard Fourth and Fifth Amendment analysis. The defense pushed on constitutional grounds and won on this point, but not on the items most damaging to the prosecution.

Coverage of the Ruling

Most mainstream outlets — AP, NBC, BBC, NYT — are framing this as a "partial victory for prosecutors." That framing is technically accurate. The suppressed items — cellphone, passport, wallet — help prosecutors build a complete case, but the gun and the notebook are the central evidence.

Largely absent from coverage: the federal case is proceeding separately, with a trial date of October 13. In that case, the federal judge ruled all of the backpack's contents into evidence — INCLUDING the items Carro just excluded from the state trial. Most outlets buried this detail.

The Circus in the Courtroom

About two dozen Mangione supporters showed up wearing "Free Luigi" T-shirts, according to PBS News. Mangione said nothing as the ruling was read.

A man is accused of cold-blooded premeditated murder of a 50-year-old father of two. Some people treat him like a folk hero.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in December 2024: "This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated."

What Comes Next

State murder trial: September 8, 2026.
Federal trial: October 13, 2026.

Mangione faces nine state felony charges including second-degree murder. New York does NOT have the death penalty — life in prison is the maximum. The federal charges carry their own exposure.

He has pleaded not guilty to everything.