Mangione lawyers say media limits at murder trial are unconstitutional, fear court will ‘hand-pick’ press

Lawyers for accused UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione argued in a new court filing that the media access rules for his upcoming state murder trial violate his constitutional right to a public trial.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione’s attorney, argued in a Friday filing that limiting the trial to 68 journalists is unconstitutional, raising concerns that the court or district attorney could “hand-pick” which reporters are permitted to attend.

In the filing, Mangione’s attorney raised three objections that they argue amount to a constitutional violation:

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• That the court is partially closing his trial by declining to use an available overflow courtroom.
• That the court and district attorney are hand-selecting which reporters can attend.
• They were given no chance to be heard before those decisions were made.

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Agnifilo claimed that her team wasn’t consulted on media access for the upcoming September trial, and only became aware of a document titled “Media Access: PSNY v. Mangione” from an independent journalist on X.

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“These guidelines were created without any consultation with or input from the defense. The guidelines provide that no overflow room will be made available for the duration of the trial, and that only six journalists will be permitted to cover jury selection, in a dramatic break from customary practice,” she wrote.

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Agnifilo called the process “unabashedly arbitrary and insufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Constitution.”

Mangione’s attorney is requesting a public hearing on the matter and wants the court to turn over a list of six journalists apparently picked to cover jury selection, the list of 68 journalists granted permission to cover the trial proceedings, as well as an explanation of the criteria and who made the selection.

Mangione’s attorneys are also seeking details on what efforts were made to secure an overflow courtroom and are requesting that the proceedings be broadcast live, as there isn’t currently an overflow room.

Mangione’s federal trial won’t begin until January.

Fox News Digital reached out to Agnifilo’s office for comment.