Luigi Mangione spoke briefly today in court as he entered his plea of “not guilty” to the murder and terrorism charges brought against him. Meanwhile, his attorney is already hard at work calling out the treatment of her client and even calling out the mayor of NYC, Eric Adams, for trying to influence the jury pool.
Mangione is being represented by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a high-profile former prosecutor who’s got tons of experience under her belt. She’s already proving to be quite formidable as she questioned whether her client would have access to a fair trial due to prejudice from government officials. In a clip shared to X Agnifilo expressed concerns that Mangione was being “treated like a human ping pong ball between two warring jurisdictions.” She goes on to accuse federal and state prosecutors of treating Luigi as “political fodder,” and “like some sort of spectacle.”
The image Mangione’s attorney is trying to paint is clear, the prosecution is showing a clear bias against him and it could affect his trial.
Mayor Eric Adams has already slipped up
Agnifilo goes on to point some of her criticisms towards the Mayor of NYC directly. In her statement she accused Adams of intentionally making a spectacle with the now infamous perp walk which saw Mangione being brought to NYC surrounded by an abundance of armed officers. At the time many online thought the whole thing seemed somewhat staged, and it seems Mangione’s lawyer thinks so too.
She carries on, pointing out that Adam’s numerous statements about Mangione indicate even more bias against the 26-year-old. The mayor committed a big no-no by missing out one important word from his vocabulary – the word “alleged.” Right now, Luigi’s guilt has yet to be proven, it’s up to the court to decide whether or not Mangione committed the crime and until that happens he is the “alleged” gunman. Adams has not used that word when referring to the suspect, indicating that he has already made up his mind as to his guilt. Agnifilo read out a statement from the mayor that demonstrates his lack of impartial language.
“I wanted to look him in the eye to say that, ‘You carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city that the people of New York love,’ and I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that.”
Gesturing to Luigi, Agnifilo stated that he was not a symbol, but somebody who should have the right to a fair trial. As she pointed out, the mayor was speaking to future potential jurors. How can Luigi hope to have an unbiased jury at his trial when the mayor is already talking like he’s guilty?
Right now there is so much buzz surrounding this case it seems like it could be almost impossible to find a completely impartial jury. People experienced in law have already given their two cents on TikTok and even OJ Simpson’s lawyer has shared his opinion on the matter. Despite all this, Judge Gregory Carro responded to Agnifilo’s concerns, admitting that he is unable to control what happens outside the courtroom but vowing Mangione would receive a fair trial.