WASHINGTON

Attorneys representing the man accused of fatally shooting a health care executive on a street in Manhattan argued in state court Monday that vital pieces of evidence in the case should be thrown out.

Luigi Mangione and his attorneys were in court Monday as his legal team sought to have key evidence dismissed in the state murder trial stemming from the Dec. 4, 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The defense team is seeking to have evidence seized from Mangione's backpack when he was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald's, including a 9mm handgun and a diary in which prosecutors say Mangione expressed his desire to kill a health care executive, thrown out, according to Bloomberg News.

Mangione's attorneys argued that the search of the backpack was illegal because the officers lacked a warrant and that any seized material should therefore be inadmissible. They also alleged that Mangione was questioned for 20 minutes without having his Miranda Rights read to him.

Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in New York last December. He was captured after a five-day manhunt in Altoona, Pennsylvania, nearly 300 miles (482 kilometers) west of New York City.

Monday's hearing marked the first of several days of proceedings in which prosecutors and defense attorneys will go back and forth over which evidence should be admitted at trial.

New York Judge Gregory Carro already handed Mangione a victory in September when he tossed state first-degree murder charges against Mangione that classified the shooting as an act of terrorism, according to Bloomberg.

Mangione faces a separate federal case that carries the possibility of the death penalty.