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Who is Margaret Garnett? Manhattan judge rules out death penalty for Luigi Mangione
US District Judge Margaret Garnett on Friday ruled that federal prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione
US District Judge Margaret Garnett on Friday ruled that federal prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. This comes as several Trump administration officials called for Mangione's execution in a ‘premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America’. The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges. He could still face life in prison.
Judge Garnett stated that the murder charge is technically flawed. Jury selection in the federal case is scheduled to begin on September 8.
Who is Judge Margaret Garnett?
Margaret Garnett is a US District Judge for the Southern District of New York, where she has presided over high-profile federal cases since early 2024. She was nominated by former President Joe Biden in 2023 to the seat vacated by Judge Vincent Louis Briccetti.
Born in 1971, Garnett earned her BA from the University of Notre Dame (1992), M.A. and M.Phil. from Yale University (1995, 1997), and J.D. from Columbia Law School (2000). Her career spans private practice in New York City (2000–2004), a clerkship with Judge Gerard E. Lynch (S.D.N.Y., 2004–2005), and nearly a decade as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York (2005–2017).
She later served as Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice for the State of New York (2017–2018), Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (2018–2021), and returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office as Deputy U.S. Attorney and Special Counsel (2021–2023) before her judicial appointment.
Garnett has also taught as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School (trial advocacy) and Columbia Law School (federal prosecution seminar and externship).
Brian Thompson, 50, was killed on December 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
(With AP inputs)
