Defense attorneys for Luigi Mangione are now withdrawing plans to argue at his state murder trial that he was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance" in the alleged killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, according to reports.
The development came just a day after Mangione’s lawyers told Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro that they planned to argue that Mangione had lost control of his actions due to an extreme mental health crisis. In a letter to Carro on June 18, the lawyers said they were "at this time" withdrawing his psychiatric defense, Reuters and The Associated Press reported.
Under New York law, murder defendants can seek to convince a jury that their actions can be explained by an "extreme emotional disturbance" that reduces their criminal culpability. Carro would ultimately decide at trial whether there was enough evidence for the murder charge to be reduced.