Thomas Dickey, the attorney representing Luigi Mangione, said his client "appreciates" the support he has gotten from members of the public who want to back his legal defense. Dickey told CNN's Kaitlin Collins on Tuesday that his client will unlikely accept their financial support.
via: People
Luigi Mangione’s lawyer has said that he’s “not aware of any evidence” that links the 26-year-old suspected killer to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Appearing on Good Morning America on Wednesday, Dec. 11, Mangione’s defense attorney Thomas Dickey was asked by host George Stephanopoulos if he stands by his statement that he’s seen “zero evidence tying Mangione to the murder.”
“That is correct,’ Dickey responded. “We had a brief hearing yesterday, but there is one document – an arrest warrant from the state of New York – which merely referenced a statute. We’ve seen no evidence. That’s one of the many reasons why we’re challenging the extradition at this point so we can see some evidence and get a little more detailed information about the charges against Luigi.”
PEOPLE previously reported that a lawyer for Mangione told a judge on Dec. 10 that he will contest a pending extradition to New York to face the murder charge against him. The Blair County Courthouse confirmed to PEOPLE that Mangione was denied bail on Tuesday by Judge David Consiglio and will remain in custody in Pennsylvania as he fights attempts by New York prosecutors to bring him to Manhattan so he can face a second-degree murder charge.
Stephanopoulos, 63, then asked Dickey about the ghost gun that was found on Mangione when he was arrested on Dec. 9 and the alleged “written admissions” of murder.
“As I indicated yesterday, I have not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime. These are things we’re looking to see. Yesterday was fast, today’s another day. We’re looking forward to beginning our inquiry as to what evidence may or may not be out there.”
“The gun looks exactly the same as the one that was used,” Stephanopoulos then noted, to which Dickey replied, “A lot of guns look the same."
"If you brought a gun in and said, ‘Well, it looks like that.’ I don’t even know if it would be admissible," he continued. "And if so I would argue that it wouldn’t be given much weight. That’s why they do ballistic tests, ballistics, examination, a test of all that to try to match that. Trust me, they’re going to try to match that firearm to the incident by more than just, ‘Well, it looks like that.’ ”
An arrest warrant issued for Mangione and obtained by PEOPLE said he was carrying “written admissions” on him when he was arrested.
A law enforcement source told PEOPLE that police found a “manifesto” that Mangione had allegedly written railing against the healthcare industry, writing that Thompson’s killing “had to be done” and that “frankly, these parasites had it coming.”
Pressing Dickey further about the writings Mangione was allegedly found with, Stephanopoulos asked, “What about the writing? ‘These parasites had it coming,’ talking about the health industry, corruption and greed. That is all evidence, isn’t it?”
“Well, I mean, certainly, it could be. I haven’t seen any of that yet,” said Dickey. “One of the rules of evidence is that there’s a rule of completeness, so you have to take any writing, any document in its entirety because some things can be taken out of context.”
Dickey added that the writings “are exactly the things that I’m looking to get my hands on. I’m hoping to get that as early as today.”
“Again, I really can’t comment on something I haven’t seen in its totality,” he said.
According to his arrest warrant, Mangione also had fake IDs allegedly used to book lodging at a New York City hostel last week.
“How about the fake ID? Same one used at the hostel?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“Again, whether or not that’s matches that, these are things I need to find out. I need to examine things. People put out certain things and parts of different things, but I think any lawyer involved in this situation would want to see it all.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Stephanopoulos asked Dickey if his client — who is a former high school valedictorian and University of Pennsylvania computer science graduate — had told him he didn’t commit the crime.
“I would never reveal any conversation between my client, that would not be proper. There’s attorney, client privilege and I would not ever comment on that,” Dickey concluded.
Mangione has been charged with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a firearm, PEOPLE confirmed on Monday.
Thompson, 50, was gunned down on Dec. 4 in front of the New York Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan where he and other UnitedHealthcare executives were set to gather for an investor meeting.
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