NEW YORK (AP) — A judge cleared the way Thursday for Luigi Mangione to get a laptop behind bars — if his jailers agree — so he can examine documents and other material in the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case.
New York state Judge Gregory Carro wrote that he had “no objection” to Mangione's request for the device, which would be configured to allow him only to review case materials. But Carro noted that it's ultimately up to federal authorities who oversee the lockup where Mangione is awaiting trial in the December shooting death of Brian Thompson, the 50-year-old head of the biggest U.S. health insurer.
Thompson was ambushed while walking to a Manhattan hotel where the company was holding an investor conference.
Mangione, a prep school and Ivy League graduate whose family had reported him missing, has pleaded not guilty to New York charges that include murder as an act of terrorism. Also facing a federal murder charge, he is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal jail in Brooklyn. He hasn't entered a plea in the federal case.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it would review the laptop request if formally submitted. If it is granted, the device would be kept in a visiting room for Mangione's use.
Carro's order came after he met virtually with prosecutors and Mangione's lawyers Thursday morning. The Associated Press unsuccessfully requested that the discussion be moved to open court.
Court spokesperson Al Baker said judges sometimes hold “off-the-record virtual or in-person conferences” with both sides' lawyers to discuss scheduling, evidence-gathering “and other related matters.”
Mangione was not at Thursday's conference, Baker said.
Mangione's lawyers asked Monday that he get a laptop to view a vast amount of documents, video and other items that prosecutors have gathered and turned over to the defense so far.
Mangione's attorneys said the material is so voluminous that he can't reasonably view it on the lockup's shared computers for inmates, nor go over it all during visiting hours with his attorneys, so he needs a dedicated laptop to scrutinize the material and help prepare his defense.
The Manhattan district attorney's office, which is prosecuting the rare murder-as-an-act-of-terrorism case, objected to the laptop request. Prosecutors argued, among other things, that Mangione's lawyers could show him the key case material.
During the back-and-forth over the laptop, prosecutors disclosed that someone slipped a handwritten, heart-shaped note of encouragement into socks that were intended for Mangione to wear to court last month. A court officer intercepted the message before the footgear got to Mangione.
His lawyers said they were unaware of the note when they brought him the clothes.
It’s not clear who wrote the note or hid it in the socks.
FILE - Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City and leading authorities on a five-day search is scheduled, appears in court for a hearing, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Luigi Mangione , accused of fatally shooting the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City and leading authorities on a five-day search is scheduled, appears in court for a hearing, Feb. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool, File)
Wall Street followed global markets lower early Monday ahead of the Trump administration's latest tariff rollout later this week.
Futures for the S&P 500 sank 1.2%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7%. Futures for the Nasdaq, where many of the biggest U.S. technology companies trade, tumbled 1.6%.
Tesla's woes continued as Elon Musk's electric car company slid 6.1%. Tesla is down 42% since Trump took office Jan. 20, with losses driven in part by the public perception of Musk's oversight of the new Department of Government Efficiency that’s slashing government spending.
Tesla sales in Europe and the U.S. have fallen, partly due to Musk’s political shift to the right. Protestors have targeted the automaker’s showrooms, vehicle lots and charging stations, with some resorting to vandalism, including burning privately owned vehicles.
Apple shares were down less than 1% after France’s antitrust watchdog fined the tech giant $162 million over the rollout of a privacy feature resulted in abuse of competition law.
Shares of the mortgage company Rocket fell 3.5% after it announced that it is buying competitor Mr. Cooper in an all-stock deal valued at $9.4 billion. Mr. Cooper shares soared more than 26%. The deals comes just weeks after Rocket acquired real estate listing company Redfin.
The price of gold hit a record high before inching back down to $3,149 an ounce. Investors continue to pull out of equities in search of traditional safe havens like gold.
Markets worldwide have been anxious over a potentially toxic mix of worsening inflation and a slowing U.S. economy because households are afraid to spend due to the deepening trade war, escalated U.S. by President Donald Trump.
Trump has dubbed Wednesday “Liberation Day,” when he will roll out tariffs tailored to each of the United States’ trading partners that he promises will free the the country from foreign goods.
The details of Trump’s next round of import taxes are still sketchy. Most economic analyses say average U.S. families would have to absorb the cost of his tariffs in the form of higher prices and lower incomes. That has contributed to significant decline in U.S. consumer confidence this year, which has alarmed investors.
On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 2% for one of its worst days in the last two years. It was its fifth losing week in the last six, helping to drive the index down 5% this year. The Dow sank 1.7% and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.7% and is down more than 10% in 2025.
Many of the countries that run trade surpluses with the U.S. and depend heavily on export manufacturing are in Asia, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
“Asia is ground zero. Of the 21 countries under USTR (U.S. Trade Representative) scrutiny, nine are in Asia,” Innes noted.
Tokyo’s benchmark fell 4.1% to 35,617.56, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.3% to 23,119.58.
The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.5% to 3,335.75.
In South Korea, the Kospi fell 3% to 2,481.12, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 1.7%, closing at 7,843.40.
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 4.2%.
European markets opened lower. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 1.4%, while France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX each fell 2%.
Thailand’s SET lost 1.3% after a powerful earthquake centered in Myanmar rattled the region, causing widespread destruction in the country, also known as Burma, and less damage in places like Bangkok.
Shares in Italian Thai Development, developer of a partially built 30-story high-rise office building under construction that collapsed, tumbled 27%. Thai officials said they are investigating the cause of the disaster, which left dozens of construction workers missing.
A currency trader walks by the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
The screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) are seen at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
An electronic stock board shows that Nikkei stock average dropped over 1,500 Japanese yen in Tokyo Monday, March 31, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
A currency trader works under an electronic stock board at a foreign currency trading firm in Tokyo Monday, March 31, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
