<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old American man accused of killing a health insurance company executive in a brazen attack that sparked a national debate, has appeared in court as his lawyers seek to have his diary entries and other key evidence tossed from his state murder case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He entered the New York courtroom through a side door on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) with his hands shackled, wearing a dark gray suit jacket. A court officer unshackled his hands as he reached the defence table.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's restaurant in Pennsylvania following a days-long manhunt after United Healthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, 50, was fatally shot on December 4, 2024, on a busy pavement in Manhattan.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australias-happiest-workers-revealed-new-seek-survey/127606a2-1f40-4921-8cad-5cd317bd876b" target="_blank"><strong><span>Australia's happiest generation of workers revealed</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During the arrest, law enforcement officers recovered several pieces of evidence from Mangione's backpack that authorities say tie him to the killing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mangione's lawyers argue police illegally searched his bag without a warrant, so that evidence should be barred from the state's case. Prosecutors denied the defence's claims and agreed to a hearing on the matter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mangione's defence team is battling prosecutors in two cases: Lawyers in his federal death penalty case also are trying to get much of the same evidence tossed. That case returns to court in January.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/luigi-mangione-in-court-seeks-to-have-key-evidence-thrown-out/8a35bb42-d069-42a8-8634-cded59842fdb" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hearing over the disputed evidence in the state case is expected to last several days, with both parties planning to call witnesses to testify, according to court documents.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Monday's hearing, prosecutors showed the full surveillance video of Thompson being shot in front of a hotel, stumbling to the side before falling to the ground. They also played surveillance video inside the McDonald's as two officers first approached Mangione, with at least six more later joining them in the restaurant.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/zone-rv-caravan-company-enters-administration/5df3f233-9c01-46db-af56-b7dd0f29d42b" target="_blank"><strong><span>Leading Australian caravan maker collapses, 250 jobs at risk</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As the videos played, Mangione appeared to watch them from the defence table, one finger resting on his chin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The prosecution also played an emergency call made by the manager of McDonald's.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of and he looks like the CEO shooter from New York," the manager is heard saying. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So they're really upset, and they've come to me."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The caller stated the man was wearing a black jacket, medical mask and a tan beanie.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The only thing you can see is his eyebrows," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mangione showed no visible signs of resistance in the surveillance video, which did not include audio. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Next to him is a backpack where police say they found writings they have described as a "manifesto" for the shooting.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/weather-report-extreme-heat-perth-very-cold-melbourne/f0bae817-accf-4751-83a5-b79ec033054c" target="_blank"><strong><span>Weather whiplash as cities swelter, freeze on first day of summer</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At one point, defence lawyer Karen Friedman-Agnifilo asked a police officer if anyone received the $US10,000 CrimeStoppers reward in the investigation, but Judge Gregory Carro sustained an objection from prosecutors.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In earlier court filings, Friedman-Agnifilo asked Carro to prevent the prosecution from showing the contents of Mangione's writings at the hearing, saying they could taint the jury pool.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She objected to the prosecution's use of the term "manifesto," calling it a "prejudicial, invented law-enforcement label."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She also asked the judge to allow at least one of Mangione's hands to be unshackled during the hearing so he can take notes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In September, Carro dismissed the top two charges against Mangione – murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism – after he found the evidence had not established Mangione committed a terroristic act.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mangione still faces nine charges in the state case, and the separate federal death penalty prosecution. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Key pieces of evidence seized</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During Mangione's arrest last December, authorities seized several items from his backpack, including a handgun, a loaded magazine, and a notebook with handwritten entries – key pieces of evidence that prosecutors allege connect Mangione to the killing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The recovered gun lines up with ballistic evidence from the Manhattan crime scene, prosecutors said in court documents.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Authorities have called the writings in the notebook a "manifesto," pointing to sections that detail his frustration with the healthcare industry and his intent to carry out an attack. Prosecutors said the entries "establish his responsibility for this vicious crime."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a court filing, Friedman-Agnifilo argued the writings and all the items recovered from the backpack should not be admissible since police illegally searched the bag without a warrant, and there was no immediate threat to justify a warrantless search.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors can overcome the challenge if they can prove the evidence would have inevitably been discovered legally during the course of the investigation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Even if the judge rules in favour of Mangione, prosecutors still have evidence of his DNA or fingerprints on several items discarded by the shooter near the crime scene, according to court documents.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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