Luigi Mangione judge says jurors will remain anonymous after threats and harassment of witnesses

NEW YORK — The judge overseeing the trial of accused assassin Luigi Mangione said jurors will remain anonymous Tuesday after New York City prosecutors warned that the defendant’s supporters may intimidate witnesses and jurors during next month’s murder trial over the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“The record demonstrates significant pretrial publicity surrounding this case, including extensive media coverage and repeated public demonstrations outside the courthouse,” Judge Gregory Carro wrote in an order published Tuesday afternoon. 

“The People have documented threats, harassment, and exposure of personal information directed at individuals perceived as connected to the case, including witnesses and others. They further cite instances in which individuals identifying themselves as supporters of the defendant engaged in inflammatory and hostile public statements outside the courthouse and announced their intention to attend jury selection to attempt to speak to prospective jurors.”

He ordered that jurors’ names and addresses be secret from everyone but the parties in the case to protect them from harassment and threats, as well as to protect Mangione’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors had requested the move. 

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“These measures do not close the courtroom, limit public access to the proceedings, or impose any prior restraint on press coverage,” he wrote. “They are limited protections directed solely at preventing harassment and preserving the integrity of the jury process in a high profile matter.”

In a previously sealed court filing opposing the motion, Mangione’s defense agreed that jurors’ addresses should remain out of the public sphere but argued that prosecutors had failed to show evidence of “an actual threat to the safety or integrity of the jury.”

“Rather than alleging that a pending, actual threat exists, as the statute requires, the People instead engage in speculation and conjecture about what could happen in the future,” defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote on Aug. 5. “However, the statute explicitly requires a threat that exists, not one that might happen in the future. The reality, of course, is that no threat exists. In the absence of a factual showing that an actual threat exists, the statutory predicate has not been satisfied, and the application must be denied.”

The judge disagreed.

Read Judge Carro’s order on keeping jurors anonymous:

Prosecutors separately asked the judge in a Monday court filing to limit courtroom access and strictly enforce decorum rules at the high-profile trial, with jury selection scheduled to begin on Sept. 8.

“The media attention surrounding this case — and the efforts of some of defendant’s supporters both to intimidate witnesses and to interfere with the functioning of the jury — will place extraordinary pressure on witnesses and potential jurors alike,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote in a letter to Carro Monday evening.

Carro, however, said the court was considering expanding media access, not shrinking it and ruled that there would be an overflow room to accommodate reporters who don’t fit in the main courtroom, telling prosecutors that it’s not his “first rodeo.” He said nothing about making the overflow audio only as prosecutors had sought and did not address a defense request to livestream the entire trial. 

“There has never been a decision by this court to exclude or limit,” Carro said. “There have been discussions on expanding.”

And he said concerns from the defense that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was involved in picking which journalists could attend were without merit.

“I don’t want to hear anymore about this,” he told the sides.

Mangione’s attorneys spoke only briefly after an appearance in court Tuesday for what was expected to be the final conference before the trial begins.

“I think there should be two overflow rooms — I’ll take one,” said defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo.

The room is expected to accommodate more than 80 journalists, but Mangione’s team has been seeking greater access. Some of his public supporters have obtained city-issued press passes.

At least one pool reporter will have a guaranteed seat in the main courtroom during jury selection, Carro said. There will be less space during that stage of the trial because potential jurors will be taking up seats. 

Carro also told the sides to identify any differences they have over the jury questionnaire before it is finalized. 

Prosecutors had also claimed that court officers would face difficulty enforcing courthouse rules in an overflow room if one were made available to accommodate more reporters than can fit in the main courtroom.

“We are particularly concerned about the possibility that a spectator in an overflow courtroom will clandestinely record the proceedings and share any such recordings with others,” prosecutors wrote. “That concern will only be heightened if the overflow room includes a video feed as well as an audio feed.”

Seidemann recommended that if the judge does approve an overflow room, “it include only an audio feed so as to minimize the potential for witness intimidation and harassment.”

Carro warned that anyone who takes a phone out in the courtroom or overflow room would be removed. 

Read the prosecution letter:

“The conventional wisdom is that the defense usually doesn’t want high-profile cases broadcast. It can put implicit pressure on jurors to return a guilty verdict,” Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital last week.

But Mangione’s defense team is likely aware that the defendant has a sizable number of supporters and is aiming to leverage that, he said.

“There’s upwards of 10 to 20 percent of the people who have been surveyed who believe that even if he did it, it was justified,” Rahmani said. “And I think the defense knows this, and they know that more attention creates the possibility of jury nullification, or maybe even an acquittal.”

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Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota, was walking to a business conference when surveillance video shows a man firing multiple bullets into his back on Dec. 4, 2024 outside a Manhattan hotel. 

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Police arrested Mangione days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.  

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Mangione’s legal team has requested a publicly televised trial, something that New York law doesn’t typically allow.

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In June, Mangione’s defense team announced plans to assert a psychiatric defense in the state case — then withdrew it a day later.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to eight state charges, including second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison under New York law.

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He is expected to go to trial in a parallel federal case early next year.

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Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.