NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A hearing in 鈥檚 state murder case in the killing of was held in secret Wednesday after the judge shut out the press and public without explanation.
New York Judge Gregory Carro said he sealed the virtual proceeding at the request of the defense but provided no other details, raising questions about transparency in the closely watched case.
Court hearings in the U.S. are presumptively open to the public, but judges are permitted to close them in certain circumstances, such as to protect sensitive or confidential information.
Carro held the hearing in his chambers at the Manhattan courthouse where Mangione is set to go to trial on Sept. 8. Mangione, his lawyers and prosecutors all appeared via video conference. A lawyer representing news organizations sent a letter to Carro asking his reasons for sealing the hearing but was ignored by the judge and rebuffed by his staff.
When the lawyer, Jeremy Chase, called Carro’s chambers Wednesday morning, he said the judge’s clerk told him: 鈥淲e don’t read emails or letters at night. We go home.鈥� She then hung up on him, he said in an email to news organizations obtained by The Associated Press.
After Wednesday’s hearing, Carro returned to the courtroom and announced it’s “sealed at the moment.鈥� He scheduled an in-person hearing for June 16. That one, he said, will be open to the public.
Spokespeople for Mangione鈥檚 defense team and for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment. A message seeking comment was left for a spokesperson for New York鈥檚 state court system.
Laura Italiano, a veteran New York City courts reporter who was in Carro’s courtroom on Wednesday, said this is the third time in six months that the judge and court staff have silenced or ignored journalists seeking access to evidence or proceedings in Mangione’s case.
At a pretrial hearing in December, court officers ejected a reporter from the courtroom after she tried objecting to Carro’s decision to seal certain evidence. In February, Carro held a 27-minute, off-the-record bench conference during an otherwise public hearing. Reporters emailed the judge to no avail and asked a court officer to relay a note to him, but the officer refused.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing serious transparency problems and the trial hasn鈥檛 even begun,鈥� Italiano said. 鈥淭here’s huge public interest in this case and the judge is carrying on as if that were not the case.鈥�
Carro scheduled Wednesday鈥檚 hearing at the end of Mangione鈥檚 .
After meeting briefly with prosecutors and Mangione鈥檚 lawyers at the bench at that prior proceeding, Carro said he鈥檇 hold a virtual hearing to discuss scheduling and jury selection issues. He gave no indication that it would be sealed, nor has anyone said how, why or when Mangione鈥檚 lawyers asked for it to be.
Typically when virtual hearings are scheduled in New York courts, the press and public are able to follow along by watching on TV monitors in the judge’s courtroom. When a party requests that a proceeding be sealed, a judge will often solicit input from the other side and allow third parties, such as the public and news media, to also provide input.
An AP reporter emailed Carro directly on Tuesday, asking him to share, even broadly, his reasoning for sealing Wednesday’s hearing, and whether a transcript or recording would be provided. The judge didn鈥檛 respond and, instead, forwarded the email to the court鈥檚 press office.
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13. He could spend his life in prison if convicted in either case.
Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group鈥檚 annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say 鈥渄elay,鈥� 鈥渄eny鈥� and 鈥渄epose鈥� were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, at a McDonald鈥檚 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan. At the May 18 hearing, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him.
The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to 鈥渨ack鈥� a health insurance executive and rebelling against 鈥渢he deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.鈥�
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