Luigi Mangione to Plead NOT Guilty

The case of the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting is getting even more interesting…

Here’s the latest update.

Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, plans to plead not guilty on all charges.

He is currently being held at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania and has been denied bail over law enforcement finding thousands of dollars in both U.S. and foreign currency on him — which Mangione is claiming had no idea how it got there and thinks may have been planted on him.

His defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, says that Mangione will plead not guilty, fight extradition to New York, and request bail.

“I have not seen one scintilla, one speck, one drop of any evidence yet,” Dickey said while asserting that the presumption of innocence is the “fundamental concept of American justice.”

Watch what Mangione’s lawyer has to say for yourself:

Thomas Dickey, an experienced Pennsylvania lawyer, represents Luigi Mangione in the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case. He's fighting extradition to New York and plans to file a writ of habeas corpus. Dickey urges presumption of innocence and claims no evidence has been presented… pic.twitter.com/enZf1bg041

— IredcapI (@IredcapI) December 11, 2024

🚨BREAKING: Luigi Mangione’s lawyer, Thomas Dickey, says there is no evidence linking his client to the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, per ABC.

pic.twitter.com/Zwqn4MBtHY

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 11, 2024

Thomas Dickey is an experienced attorney who has worked on a number of high-profile cases:

🚨BREAKING: Local defense attorney Thomas Dickey is in court today, representing Luigi Mangione at his extradition hearing.

Dickey has built a distinguished defense career, securing dismissals in first-degree murder cases, earning acquittals in high-profile trials, and… pic.twitter.com/ULBFIZk9h8

— Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) December 10, 2024

He refused to say who hired him to represent Luigi Mangione.

Luigi Mangione's attorney, Thomas Dickey, REFUSES to reveal who is paying him or who retained him:

"I'm not gonna comment on that. I've been retained. I'm not court appointed. That's all I can tell ya." pic.twitter.com/orNdb6aQPv

— Daniel (@TheDancuso) December 11, 2024

The Boston Herald reported:

Luigi Mangione‘s lawyer Thomas Dickey on Tuesday said his client would plead not guilty — and ask for bail — in the gunshot-slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, declaring he and Mangione had formed “a strong bond.”

Speaking at his law office in Altoona, Penn. in a 17-minute press conference, Dickey reiterated the presumption of innocence is the “fundamental concept of American justice,” and that he had not seen any evidence his 26-year-old client was the shooter.

“The burden is always on the government, thank God,” said Dickey on a televised livestream of the press conference. “I have not seen one scintilla, one speck, one drop of any evidence yet.”

The lawyer said since all charges in Pennsylvania — aside from capital charges — allow bail, he’d be seeking just that for Mangione.

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“The judge could set a million dollar bail, it could be a $5 million bail, but damn it, you get bail,” he said.

Newsweek added:

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will plead not guilty to forgery and weapons charges that were filed against him in Pennsylvania, Mangione’s lawyer said Tuesday in his first public comments.

“We pled not guilty, at least to the charges in Pennsylvania,” attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters. He added that he’s “not aware of any actual charges in New York,” where Thompson was shot.

Mangione did not have a lawyer during his arraignment in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday, and Dickey noted that, saying, “I hope he pled not guilty. I assume that that’s what happened. But today, when I entered my appearance in for the record, he’s pleading not guilty.”

Mangione was detained and arrested on weapons charges in Altoona after a McDonald’s employee saw Mangione and thought he looked similar to photos of the suspect in Thompson’s shooting that police had released last week.

New York officials later said he was a “strong person of interest” in the case, and prosecutors in the state filed a murder charge against Mangione late Monday night.

Mangione appeared in court on Tuesday for an extradition hearing, and Dickey said that during the proceeding, “they introduced some documents, which, as I complained about, didn’t have enough information for me.”

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“So we’re looking forward to, you know, getting that additional information,” he said.

Dickey added: “Like I said earlier, and I wasn’t kidding around, a couple of things: if you’re going to report something, report it accurately. And remember, and this is not just a small thing, the fundamental concept of American justice is the presumption of innocent…until you’re proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And I have seen zero evidence at this point.”