Luigi Mangione has asked for a laptop in jail as he awaits his trial for the alleged murder of a health insurance CEO.
Mangione, 26, is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December.
Thompson, the father of two high school-aged children, had worked for decades within UnitedHealthcare and its parent company.
In a court filing, which was made public late on Monday, Mangione’s lawyers asked that the defendant be given a laptop for legal purposes.
It would be configured to let him view an array of documents, videos and other material about his case, they said. The documents run to more than 15,000 pages.
The laptop would not allow Mangione to connect to the internet or communicate with anyone.
It would also be unable to run video games or play movies or other entertainment, his lawyers said in Monday’s filing.
Otherwise, he can view the material when meeting with his attorneys. But they say there are not enough visiting hours in the day for him to do that and properly help prepare his defense.
Similar provisions have been made for other defendants in the jail where Mangione is being held.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Mangione on a rare New York state charge of murder as an act of terrorism, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Mangione’s lawyers, prosecutors are frowning on the laptop request, saying that some witnesses have been threatened.
Defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote that there’s “no connection to Mr. Mangione for any of said alleged threats.”
Mangione, an Ivy League computer science graduate from a Maryland real estate family, has pleaded not guilty to the New York state charges. He also faces a parallel federal case that carries the possibility of the death penalty.
He has not entered a plea to the federal charges or to state-level gun possession and other charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested days after Thompson’s death.
Thompson’s killing alarmed the corporate world, and some health insurers hastily switched to remote work or online shareholder meetings.
But at the same time, the case channeled some Americans’ frustrations with health insurance companies. Mangione’s writings and words on bullets recovered from the scene reflected animus toward health insurers and corporate America, authorities have said.
Some people have lionized the accused killer, donated money to his defense and even flocked to his court appearances. Others, including elected officials, have deplored the praise for what they cast as ideological violence and vigilante justice.
Through his lawyers, Mangione has released a statement thanking supporters.
