*

Luigi Mangione faces 11 state charges, including murder

and

terrorism

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Maximum NY sentence is life without parole if convicted

*

Federal charges could lead to death penalty

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Charges based on conflicting theories, says defense lawyer

*

Mangione seen as folk hero by some for anti-healthcare

industry

stance

(Adds background, details from court hearing in paragraphs 2,

5-7)

By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) -

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally gunning down

health insurance executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street,

pleaded not guilty on Monday to New York state murder charges

that brand him a terrorist.

Mangione, 26, was escorted into Judge Gregory Carro's

13th-floor courtroom in the New York state criminal courthouse

in lower Manhattan with a court officer on each arm, and a

procession of a half dozen officers following him. He was in

handcuffs and shackles, and wore a burgundy sweater over a

white-collared shirt.

Mangione leaned into a microphone and said "not guilty" when

asked how he pleaded to the 11-count indictment, which includes

three murder charges, including murder as an act of terrorism.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison

without the possibility of parole.

Last Thursday, Mangione was transferred from Pennsylvania to

New York after deciding not to fight extradition. He was led off

a helicopter in lower Manhattan by a large phalanx of police

officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

That spectacle and other statements by public officials

suggest Mangione may not be able to get a fair trial, his lawyer

Karen Friedman Agnifilo said at the hearing.

"They are treating him like he is some sort of political

fodder, some sort of spectacle," Agnifilo said. "He is not a

symbol, he is someone who is afforded a right to a fair trial."

Monday's arraignment was the second court appearance in New

York for Mangione, 26.

He was arrested at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona,

Pennsylvania, five days after the brazen, pre-dawn Dec. 4

killing of Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group's ( UNH )

insurance unit UnitedHealthcare, outside a hotel in midtown

Manhattan where the company was gathering for an investor

conference.

Mangione also faces a four-count federal criminal complaint

charging him with stalking and killing Thompson. He has not yet

been asked to enter a plea to those charges. U.S. Magistrate

Judge Katharine Parker ordered Mangione detained at a Dec. 19

presentment on those charges.

'DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE'

More than two dozen members of the public sat in the

audience of the courtroom where Mangione was presented.

A small group of protesters had gathered outside the lower

Manhattan courthouse in freezing temperatures expressing support

for Mangione and anger at healthcare companies.

One person held a sign saying "DENY, DEFEND, DEPOSE," the

words police say were found etched on shell casings at the crime

scene. The words echo tactics some accuse insurers of using to

avoid paying out claims.

While the killing of Thompson has been condemned by public

officials, Mangione has been feted as a folk hero by some

Americans who decry the steep costs of healthcare and the power

held by insurance companies to deny paying for some medical

treatments.

The federal charges would make him eligible for the death

penalty, should the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan decide

to pursue it.

The separate federal and state cases will proceed in

parallel. The state case is currently expected to go to trial

first, federal prosecutors said.

Mangione's lead lawyer, Friedman Agnifilo, said at the

federal court hearing that the two sets of charges appeared to

be based on conflicting theories. The state charges accuse

Mangione of intending to "intimidate or coerce a civilian

population" and influence policy, while the federal charges

accuse him of stalking and killing an individual.

Friedman Agnifilo said the two cases seemed completely

different, and she asked prosecutors to clarify whether both

would continue. Dominic Gentile, a federal prosecutor, said

Thursday's initial appearance was not the appropriate time to

address those legal arguments.

According to the federal criminal complaint, the police who

arrested Mangione found a notebook that contained several

handwritten pages that "express hostility towards the health

insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular."

A notebook entry dated Oct. 22 allegedly described an intent

to "wack" the chief executive of an insurance company at its

investor conference.