Judge in Luigi Mangione case issues warning to DOJ

(NewsNation) —  A judge in the Luigi Mangione case for the killing of Brian Thompson, the former United Healthcare CEO, ordered that comments made by the Department of Justice may have violated the law when they talked about the case publicly.

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett detailed in her order filed on Wednesday that “multiple employees” at the DOJ could have broken Local Criminal Rule 23.1, a federal rule.

The Judge wrote, “The rule goes on to state that any opinion as to the accused guilt or innocence or as to the merits of the case of the evidence in the case is a matter that presumptively involves such a substantial likelihood.”

“Two high-ranking staff members of the Department of Justice, including within the Office of Attorney General, appear to be in direct violation of this Rule and the Court's April 25 order.”

Judge Garnett’s order is a response to Mangione’s defense team’s earlier filing,  informing the court of “various public statements made about his case by various members of the government.”

The judge gave a deadline to the Government of October 3 for their response, specifically a “sworn declaration” from “Ms. (Amanda) Houle (Chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District) or Mr. (Sean) Buckley (Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York) to “explain to the court how these violations occurred.”

The judge also cautioned that violations of this kind in the future may result in “sanctions, which could include personal financial penalties, contempt of court findings, or relief specific to the prosecution of this matter.”

The DOJ issued a “no comment” to NewsNation.

In April, A.G. Pam Bondi said she was instructing prosecutors to try for the death penalty for Mangione, calling the slain healthcare CEO’s murder an “act of political violence.”

Mangione is fighting against the death penalty, citing that the prosecution has not given sufficient evidence for the charge.

The 27-year-old Mangione has been charged with a firearms offense, stalking, and murder through the use of a firearm. Additionally, he was charged in New York and Pennsylvania for first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, weapons charges and a count of using a forged instrument. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole for the state charges.