Terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione were dropped by a judge on Tuesday in New York state’s case over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Judge Gregory Carro did keep the state’s second-degree murder charges against Mangione, per The Associated Press.
In a written decision released when Mangione appeared in court, Carro said that even though there is no doubt that the killing was not an ordinary street crime, state law doesn’t consider something terrorism just because it was motivated by ideology.
The judge added that there was not sufficient proof that Mangione intended to terrorize a population, per The Washington Post.
“While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the health care industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to ‘intimidate and coerce a civilian population,’ and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal,” Carro wrote, per the AP.
The judge also agued that there was insufficient evidence that Mangione had the intent to influence or affect government policy by intimidation or coercion, which is an element of the terrorism charges. Carro also noted that federal prosecutors chose not to charge Mangione with terrorism offenses.
About keeping the second-degree murder charge, the judge said there was sufficient evidence that Mangione “murdered Brian Thompson in a premeditated and calculated execution, per the AP.
Mangione’s lawyers did not comment after the hearing.
Carro ordered pretrial hearings related to the admissibility of evidence to take place on Dec. 1, per The Washington Post. No trial date has been set.
Mangione also faces federal charges related to the killing of Thompson on Dec. 4. In the federal case he’s charged with murder with the use of a firearm and stalking.
The Justice department is seeking the death penalty for Mangione, per The Washington Post.