The , Maryland native , accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month faces five costs in New York, the most significant being second-degree crime.
Every state has its own murder act, and some state laws outline the various levels of seriousness and the definitions of what each degree entails.
Had the firing taken place in Maryland, where Luigi Mangione , grew up and graduated as Gilman School’s dean, the suspect had most likely be charged with first-degree death. But New York’s levels of crime are unique. In New York, second-degree death generally refers to consciously causing the death of another person — almost the same as Maryland’s first-degree death act, said Bradley S. Shepherd, a Maryland defense counsel with Posner &, Cord LLC.
New York’s second-degree death act also includes killings that happen in the payment of another felonies, as well as certain additional “reckless” do that leads to a child’s death.
In accordance with New York law, first-degree murder refers to killings committed by “in the furtherance of an act of terrorism” when the victim is a judge, a first responder, or a police officer. It also includes murder-for-hire cases.
” It’s not a common thing, and it’s not easy to satisfy that standard”, said Nicole Brenecki, a partner at the Brooklyn, New York-based law firm Jodré Brenecki LLP.
The only way they saw New York prosecutors convicting Mangione, 26, would be to prove that Thompson had killed him in order to advance an act of terrorism, according to criminal defense attorneys.
” It would be a really grandiose theory”, said Brenecki. ” They’d really have to nail him on the intent” of the homicide being a terrorist act to influence the healthcare industry, she said.
” That’s very, very big and serious”, she said, noting that she personally didn’t think it’d be worth it for prosecutors to upgrade the charge.
The most common penalty for both first- and second-degree murder in New York is life, and the main difference is that a first-degree murder conviction can lead to life without the possibility of parole, said Richard Schoenstein, a partner at New York-based Tarter Krinsky &, Drogin LLP. Only a very limited range of second-degree murder convictions, particularly those involving victims under the age of 14, can result in life sentences without the possibility of parole.
For defendants found guilty of first-degree murder, the minimum sentence is slightly longer: they must serve at least 20 years before being placed on parole, as opposed to 15 for second-degree murder. The death penalty has been abolished in both Maryland and New York.
Upgrading Mangione’s charge “adds a degree of proof and legal complexity that I’m not sure is necessary”, said Schoenstein. He wasn’t sure what the upside of pursuing first-degree murder conviction would be but speculated they could do it based on the reaction to the high-profile killing, which has included , online praise of Mangione.
” Maybe you want to send a message by attacking it as an act of terrorism”, he said, noting it would still” complicate the case”.
Maryland also has only two murder convictions. The state defines first-degree murder as premeditated and intentional, resulting in a life sentence. Second-degree murder, which has a maximum sentence of 40 years, is defined as any murder that is” not in the first degree”. That could mean an intentional killing that was not premeditated, said Shepherd. It also includes “depraved heart” murder, which covers acts taken” with an extreme disregard for human life” that result in death, which would also fall under New York’s second-degree murder statute.
Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, is currently jailed on forgery and weapons charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at a McDonald ‘s , days after , the killing. His legal team there is fighting his extradition to New York, where he faces more serious charges connected to the , Dec. 4 killing , in Midtown Manhattan.
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