The article says why the death penalty is no longer on the table — because the federal murder and weapons charges were dismissed, and the remaining charges do not qualify for capital punishment.
The article does not say why the charges were dismissed, though.
Federal courts do not have jurisdiction over murders by default. There are two obvious cases where they do (murder of a federal official, murder on federal land) and a shaky third category of "murder pursuant to another federal crime".
In the past that third category has been used to charge organized criminals, anything that touches the interstate commerce act (drug trafficking/contract killing/etc), and terrorism.
Charging Mangione with federal murder connected to a federal stalking charge was relatively unprecedented, but they might get it to stick on appeal. Stalking is threatening but maybe not inherently violent, but that seems similar to bank robbery (where FDIC insurance is frequently used to grant federal jurisdiction over involved homicides).
Mangione is charged with killing a man (in New York, with New York state jurisdiction) and stalking a man (across multiple states, the federal charge). There is no such thing as a federal crime of fleeing across state lines or owning a list of assassination targets.
I actually think it's so bad in our country right now that if someone showed up at the court and snuck a gun in and shot Luigi in the back and killed him ... THAT guy would definitely get the death penalty. (he should, but so should Luigi)
> Why should either of them get the death penalty?
Pardons. If he's pardoned there is a good chance he'll kill again. (And inspire copycats.)
We need to eliminate pardons across our system of justice. Between Biden pardoning his son and Trump pardoning the J6'ers, there should be a bipartisan case for closing this.
$1.4M defense fund (so far), exceptional legal team, jury nullification, lots of paths to success. His case is going well so far, and appeals are always an option. “Proof beyond a reasonable doubt” is the bar.
How confident are you there isn’t at least one juror who hasn’t been harmed by their health insurance, financially or medically? Only takes one.
> How confident are you there isn’t at least one juror who hasn’t been harmed by their health insurance, financially or medically?
Who doesn't perjor themselves during voir dire, thereby triggering a mistrial? Pretty confident. Maybe he gets lucky in federal court because Bondi is an idiot. But the state charges are solid, and New York isn't Reddit.
> not sure why so many people believe that what - jury nullification? - is going to happen
Eh, if I thought Mangione was justified or effective it would be an easy way to feel good for a while with zero real-world consequences apart from my moral integrity. (Which, to be clear, is mine and mine alone. I have friends–good people whom I love and respect–who would nullify Mangione. They're just never getting seated on his jury without perjuring themselves.)
The article does not say why the charges were dismissed, though.