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Luigi Mangione is expected to appear before a Manhattan federal court judge on Wednesday morning in an effort to postpone his highly anticipated 8 September federal trial on charges of killing a top healthcare executive on a Manhattan street.

Mangione’s request for postponement relates to his New York state-level case in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The accused murderer’s Manhattan supreme court trial is scheduled for 8 June.

Thompson’s 4 December 2024 murder spurred a sprawling manhunt for his shooter. The executive’s death also intensified public outcry over the for-profit US healthcare industry while elevating Mangione to folk hero status among a strong contingent of devotees.

Lawyers for Mangione have repeatedly argued that they will not have enough time to prepare for his federal trial on the current schedule, as those proceedings would take place shortly after the state case wraps. Mangione has maintained his innocence.

“Mr Mangione is now in the position of needing to prepare for two complicated and serious trials at the same time,” they argued in an 18 March letter to Judge Margaret M Garnett. “This scenario violates several of Mr Mangione’s constitutional rights.”

They argued that Mangione “has a right to meaningfully participate in all stages of his trial, including the jury selection process”. As it stands, the federal court is expected to send out questionnaires for potential jurors on 29 June.

This puts Mangione in the “impossible position” of having to examine 800 jury questionnaires the week of 29 June – during his state trial for second-degree murder. “As a practical matter, this would not be possible,” they said.

During trial days, they said, Mangione would be brought to court and returned to federal jail that evening. When he gets back to jail, it would be too late for his lawyers to meet with him about the questionnaires.

Mangione’s team noted that Justice Gregory Carro, who is overseeing the state case, said that he would reschedule this trial for 8 September if federal proceedings were pushed back. They have asked Garnett to move his federal trial to January 2027.

Prosecutors oppose this postponement proposal, maintaining there are workarounds other than a delay that would give Mangione and his team enough time.

“The concerns identified by the defense can be fully addressed through targeted modifications to the questionnaire process, rather than a wholesale continuance of the trial date in this case,” the prosecutors argued in a 21 March letter.

They noted that the reasoning behind distributing juror questionnaires in June related to Mangione originally facing a federal capital case. Garnett dismissed death penalty-eligible charges on 30 January.

• This article was amended on 1 April 2026. An earlier version listed the incorrect year for Brian Thompson’s murder.