NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan prosecutors urged a judge on Wednesday to set a July trial date in Luigi Mangione ’s state murder case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, two months before jury selection is set to begin in his federal death penalty case.

In a letter, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann asked Judge Gregory Carro to begin the New York trial on July 1, arguing that the state’s interests “would be unfairly prejudiced by an unnecessary delay” until after the federal trial. The state trial has not yet been scheduled and the next hearing isn’t until May, when Carro is expected to rule on a defense request to exclude certain evidence.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office raised the scheduling issue days after U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said jury selection in the federal case will begin on Sept. 8, with the rest happening either in October or January, depending on whether she allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

If the death penalty is still in play, the second phase of the federal trial — including opening statements and testimony — will begin Jan. 11, 2027, Garnett said at a hearing last Friday. If it’s not, opening statements will be held Oct. 13. Capital cases are more complex and require more time to prepare.

In his letter to Carro, Seidemann argued that state prosecutors were involved in the investigation from the start while federal prosecutors joined the case about two weeks after Thompson’s death, charging Mangione a day after he was indicted in state court.

“It is entirely natural then that the state case would proceed to trial prior to the federal case,” the prosecutor wrote, citing legal precedent. The state, he said, “has an overriding interest in trying this defendant for the cold-blooded execution of Brian Thompson.”

At the time of Mangione’s arrest, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor had said he anticipated the state case would go to trial first.

It isn’t just a matter of scheduling. Under New York law, the district attorney’s office would be barred from trying Mangione on state murder charges if his federal case goes to trial first. The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea.

Mangione is due back in court in the federal case on Friday with Garnett set to rule soon on a variety of pretrial issues, including whether it remains a capital case and whether prosecutors will be permitted to show jurors some of evidence debated in the state case.

Those items include a 9 mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing and a notebook in which they say he described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges; the state charges carry the possibility of life in prison. He is due back in court for a conference in the federal case on Friday.

In his letter, Seidemann told Carro that the Manhattan district attorney’s office is ready to proceed to trial and that any outstanding pretrial issues in the state case can be resolved before July.

After holding a three-week hearing in December on the defense’s evidence request, Carro said he wouldn’t rule until May 18, “but that could change.”

Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, a 27-year-old Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.

In September, Carro threw out state terrorism charges but kept the rest of the case — including an intentional murder charge — in place.

In the federal case, Mangione’s lawyers want prosecutors barred from seeking the death penalty and want at least some charges dismissed, arguing that authorities prejudiced him by turning his arrest into a spectacle and by publicly declaring their desire to see him executed.

As for the evidence, Mangione’s lawyers contend the Altoona Police Department illegally searched his backpack because they had not yet obtained a warrant. Prosecutors say the search was legal. Officers were following Altoona police protocols, which require promptly searching a suspect’s property for dangerous items, and later obtained a warrant, prosecutors said.

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