The man accused of shooting dead the CEO of US company UnitedHealthcare has pleaded not guilty , while his lawyer complained that statements coming from New York's mayor would make it tough to receive a fair trial.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was shackled and seated in a Manhattan court when he leaned over to a microphone to enter his plea.
The Manhattan district attorney formally charged him last week with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in a state case that will run parallel to
His initial appearance in New York's state trial court was pre-empted by federal prosecutors bringing their own charges over the shooting.
The federal charges could carry the possibility of the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for the state charges is life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first.
One of Mangione's lawyers told a judge that government officials, including New York Mayor Eric Adams, have turned Mangione into a political pawn, robbing him of his rights as a defendant and tainting the jury pool.
"I am very concerned about my client's right to a fair trial," said Karen Friedman Agnifilo.
The city's mayor and top police official stood among a throng of heavily armed officers last Thursday when Mangione was flown to a Manhattan heliport and slowly escorted up a pier after being extradited from Pennsylvania.
"I wanted to look him in the eye and say you carried out this terroristic act in my city — the city that the people of New York love," the mayor told a local TV station.
Friedman Agnifilo has accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting legal theories, calling their approach confusing and highly unusual.
"He is being treated like a human ping-pong ball between warring jurisdictions here," she said Monday.
State trial court Judge Gregory Carro responded that he has little control over what happens outside the courtroom, but said he can guarantee that Mangione will receive a fair trial.
