Luigi Mangione’s radical supporters are leading the charge pushing for a rarely-used legal loophole that could let the suspected healthcare CEO killer walk free — even if the jury believes he is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the cold-blooded murder.
The December 4 Legal Committee, which has raised more than $1.5 million for Mangione’s defense fund, is raising awareness about jury nullification, a legal power by which a defiant jury can find a defendant not guilty if they believe the law the accused is charged with breaking is unjust, The Times reported.
While rare since the 19th century, it’s used when a jury wants to “send a message about some social issue that is larger than the case itself, or because the result dictated by law is contrary to the jury’s sense of justice, morality, or fairness,” according to the Cornell Legal Information Institute.
Jamie Peck, one of two spokespeople for the December 4 Legal Committee, described jury nullification to The Times as “a beautiful feature of our justice system and really one of the only safeguards against tyranny that we have.”
Mangione, 28, is accused at both state and federal level of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024.
He was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., where police recovered his journal in which he allegedly wrote of his intention to “wack” an insurance company CEO.
He has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges.
Prosecutors may have a difficult time finding impartial jurors in New York City for the politically charged case — which has sparked intense debate over the US healthcare system.
“You have a juror pool in New York City that is particularly politically inflamed. It’s a very partisan city, and I think Luigi Mangione has a lot of support in New York City, despite the fact that he’s accused of an egregious murder,” Kenneth Belkin, a criminal defense attorney in New York, told The Times.
“I think that’s concerning because if you have a large amount of people that are supporting a [suspected] murderer’s political stance in committing a murder, that raises a real possibility that you could get some jurors on that jury that may not convict, no matter what the evidence says.”
Jury nullification is not legally sanctioned and attorneys are not permitted to present the concept of jury nullification to the jury — but it is also not outright forbidden.
However, in 2015 two people handing out pamphlets about jury nullification outside of a Denver courthouse were arrested and charged with jury tampering. The charges were later tossed in the Colorado Supreme Court.
During the jury selection process, jurors will be asked by a judge whether they will be willing to follow the law to weed out those who may refuse.
Jury nullification has historical roots in English common law and was used by American colonists to acquit defendants in protest of the British.
The tactic was also used by abolitionists who refused to convict those accused of violating the Fugitive Slave Act, according to the Cornell Legal Information Institute.
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