Justice Gregory Carro ruled that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to the grand jury that Mangione acted with the intent to intimidate health insurance workers or influence government policy, which would have been necessary to prove murder as an act of terrorism.
“While there is no doubt that the crime at issue here is not ordinary ‘street crime,’ it does not follow that all non-street crimes were meant to be included within the reach of the terrorism statute,” Carro wrote in his decision.
Mangione was led into the courtroom in Lower Manhattan handcuffed and with shackles on his feet, wearing tan prison garb.
The judge set Mangione’s next court date in the case for December 1.
Mangione could still face life in prison if convicted of murder in the second degree, which is defined as an intentional killing.
He also faces a separate federal indictment over the killing of Thompson, the former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit UnitedHealthcare. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to both the state and federal charges.
Thompson was shot and killed on December 4 outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel, where his company was gathering for an investor conference. (Reuters)
