Luigi Mangione's lawyer speaks up on not seeking bail: 'I was blindsided, never seen anything...'

Luigi Mangione's lead attorney

Karen Friedman Agnifilo

has spoken about not seeking a bail as Luigi Mangione the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was present in a court in Manhattan Thursday after Mangione was extradited from Pennsylvania to New York. Mangione did not challenge the extradition indicating that his lawyers were prepared to fight in New York where he had been charged with first and second-degree murder.
But Agnifilo did not apply for bail when Mangione was presented in the court in New York because by that time federal murder charges were imposed on her client. Agnifilo who appeared in the court relying on crutches told the court that she was blindsided by the federal charges as she never encountered something like this in her career of over three decades.
Agnifilo said that Mangione was being charged with two separate crimes and the charges are very different.
"These seem like two different cases," she said. "The theory of the murder charge of the Manhattan DA case is terrorism and intimidating a group of people. This is stalking an individual."

"Is there one case, two cases, two investigations? Is there a joint investigation?" Agnifilo asked Judge Kahterarine Parker. "Frankly, I've never seen anything like that and what's happening here," she added. "This is a highly unusual situation that we find ourselves in."
Mangione's next date of court appearance has been fixed on January 18, 2025.

Did lawyers make a wrong decision in not fighting extradition?

Luigi Mangione's Pennsylvania lawyer Thomas Dicky advised Mangione not to fight the extradition and to face the charges in New York. Explaining his decision, Dicky earlier said that facing the charges in New York was inevitable and hence they decided to focus on the main charges against Mangione instead of getting caught up in the procedural legalities. But at that time, Mangione's legal team did not have any idea that Mangione would be charged with federal murder.