Mangione will argue a psychiatric defense

[00:00:00]Lawyers for Luigi Mangione are planning to argue at trial that he committed the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but he did it while suffering from an extreme emotional disturbance.

[00:00:11]It's a psychiatric defense in New York where the defendant essentially agrees that they committed the crime, but says that they did it in the heat of the moment. The advantage for Mangione's lawyers to argue this is that they can ask the jury to find Mangione guilty not of murder, but of manslaughter, which carries less prison time and makes the difference between a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison [music] to one with a maximum of 25 years. It also allows Mangione's lawyers to explore what was going on [music] inside of him that provoked him to commit this murder. One thing that people have speculated about is what prompted this.

[00:00:45]Mangione was the valedictorian of his high school. He comes from an affluent family, and then he murders the CEO.

[00:00:51]Well, his lawyers can point to some things that Mangione's already put in the public, which was an x-ray [music] of his spine post-surgery. Lawyers and forensic psychologists we spoke to say this is a difficult defense because [music] of the strength of the evidence facing Mangione, his own writings expressing his frustration and animosity [music] toward the healthcare industry, saying he wanted to whack the CEO, as well as the firearm that was found in his backpack [music] that authorities linked to shell casings at the crime scene. Mangione's lawyers can also try to [music] tap into any jurors who themselves may have frustrations with the healthcare industry. The big question will be what caused him to snap.

[00:01:29]>> Now, prosecutors [music] were frustrated today in court. They said that Mangione's lawyers were stonewalling them, that they didn't have the details of what this defense would be. [music] They are allowed to interview Mangione, have their own psychologist do that, as well as get other information, medical records, other details that they are waiting for. The judge is saying they have to turn that over by Thursday, and we're just 3 months until trial.