The angry and shouting face of Luigi Mangione being taken into custody at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, made headlines this week. The 26-year-old man is the prime suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, who was shot in New York.
But Why was Mangione shouting? The answer to this question was clarified by his lawyer Thomas Dickey during an interview on CNN this Wednesday.
According to the New York Post, Dickey stated in the mentioned interview that Luigi Mangione was “irritated” because at that moment, there was no lawyer accompanying him. He felt alone, being dragged by the police officers to the courthouse, which made him feel that his right to legitimate defense with his own lawyer was being trampled on.
"This is extremely out of place, it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people and to our experiences," shouted the young man, dressed in orange.
"“He never had legal representation until he entered that building yesterday,” said his lawyer, pointing out that he was the one who calmed him down inside the courthouse to prevent him from getting into more trouble."
"I spoke with him... Look at the difference between when he entered and when he left... Now he has a spokesperson and someone who is going to fight for him," the lawyer explained.
Luigi Mangione and allegations of failure in the judicial process
Lawyer Thomas Dickey expressed concerns about several "failures" in the judicial process regarding the case of Luigi Mangione. One of them is the skepticism about the evidence collection by the New York Police, so he mentioned that he wants to see the fingerprints and ballistic evidence of the weapons.
"Those two sciences, in themselves, have been the subject of some criticism in the past, in relation to their credibility, their truthfulness, their accuracy, however you want to put it," Dickey said, highlighting the need to see how the samples were collected and to see the results before they are presented for admissibility.
New York Police Department's version of the Luigi Mangione case
The Post reported that Jessica Tisch, Commissioner of the New York Police Department, indicated that the bullet casings found at the crime scene matched the gun Mangione had when he was arrested.
"First, we recovered the weapon in question. Now, it is in the forensic laboratory of the New York Police Department," he explained.
Despite the evidence collected, Luigi Mangione declared himself innocent. He not only faces a murder charge but also a weapons possession charge. His lawyer requested bail, so a response from the court is expected.