Police Reportedly Searched Luigi Mangione's Backpack Illegally, Court Says They Cannot Be Used as Evidence

A New York court has ruled that several items taken from Luigi Mangione's backpack after his arrest in Pennsylvania were obtained through an unlawful search, significantly limiting what prosecutors can use in the case tied to the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson.

According to CNBC, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro said evidence gathered during the search at a McDonald's in Altoona must be excluded after finding police did not have sufficient legal basis to search the bag at that stage.

It is worth noting that the ruling focuses squarely on what officers did in the moments after Mangione was detained, rather than the murder investigation itself. Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Thompson in Manhattan in December 2024, shortly before the healthcare executive was due to attend an investors' event linked to UnitedHealth Group.

Defence lawyers have also repeatedly challenged whether officers followed proper procedure when handling his belongings at the scene.

Ruling Removes Key Items From Trial

Judge Carro said the search of Mangione's backpack at the McDonald's in Altoona could not legally stand and ordered that several items be excluded from the trial. The court specifically barred prosecutors from using a magazine, mobile phone, passport, wallet and a computer chip taken during that search.

The judge's reasoning was based on control and custody. In effect, he concluded that Mangione did not have the level of possession or oversight required at the time for police to lawfully search the backpack without a stronger justification. That finding is central to why the evidence has now been suppressed.

The ruling is a setback for prosecutors, who had hoped those items would help reconstruct Mangione's movements and state of mind in the hours around the killing. Without them, parts of the evidential picture become harder to piece together, particularly around communications and identity-related material.

However, the court did not exclude everything found in the backpack. A 3D printed gun, which investigators believe may have been used in the killing of Thompson, remains admissible. A journal recovered from the bag is also still allowed as evidence, although it was later formally logged at police headquarters rather than being relied on from the initial search itself.

That split decision means the trial will proceed with some of the most sensitive items intact, while removing others that defence lawyers successfully argued were obtained improperly. It also places greater pressure on how the remaining evidence is presented to a jury, particularly the weapon alleged to be linked to the shooting.

Arrest Procedures Under Fire

Mangione remains charged with the fatal shooting of Thompson in Manhattan in December 2024. Thompson, 50, was the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare and was attending a corporate investors' event when he was killed. The case has since moved through New York's state court system, with Mangione appearing at multiple pre-trial hearings.

Judge Carro's decision does not address guilt or innocence, but it does narrow the scope of what the prosecution can rely on. In this instance, the court found that police overstepped when they searched Mangione's backpack at the McDonald's without meeting the required legal threshold. That finding has now effectively drawn a line through a set of materials once considered central to the prosecution's case.

While prosecutors have not yet set out their full response in court filings, the ruling is expected to force a recalibration of how they present the timeline of events. The admissible items, particularly the alleged weapon, are likely to take on even greater weight as proceedings continue.