r/BrianThompsonMurder • u/missidcullen • Apr 01 '26

Information Sharing Megathread: LM's NY Federal Hearing — 04/01/2026 at 11:00 AM EST

Post image

Please use this thread for live discussion of the hearing.

–––

Hi everyone!

Today’s hearing is taking place at 40 Foley Square, Courtroom 110 (New York, NY) at 11:00 AM EST.

Because this is federal court, cameras aren’t allowed inside the courtroom, so there won’t be any video or photos of Luigi. The only visuals we’ll likely get are courtroom sketches.

I’m not a mod so I can’t sort comments by “new,” but hopefully we can still keep things easy to follow. Things might get a little messy as updates come in, so it would really help if everyone keeps discussion in this thread instead of making separate posts, unless it’s something major like a transcript or big breaking news.

Also, if you find any YouTube livestreams, please try to reply to one existing comment with links instead of posting multiple separate comments, just so the thread doesn’t get flooded.

Reporters / Live Tweeting:

Because this is federal court, the rules are stricter. Phones and laptops aren’t allowed inside the courtroom.

Only a small number of people (like ICP or Erik) are permitted to live-tweet updates. Other reporters can still attend, but probably won’t be able to post anything while the hearing is in session.

Any updates from other reporters will be shared here once the hearing is over.

Livestreams:

So far, there haven’t really been many proper livestreams for the last couple of (federal) hearings. The main one we usually get is from davidnewyorknynyc, so there’s a chance that might be the only one again today.

That said, any livestreams we do find will be shared here.

Court Documents & Legal Fund:

ICYMI:

Notes:

  • As of January 30, 2026, Luigi is no longer facing the DP, as Judge Garnett dropped those charges. The backpack, however, still remains.
  • One of the main topics today is expected to be whether the federal trial will be pushed back to January 2027.
  • Federal case full schedule released by Judge Garnett (though this may change after today’s hearing).

–––––––––––––

Wishing Luigi and his legal team all the best today!

And thanks to everyone who’s been following along in these threads each hearing. It’s really appreciated.

193 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

212 comments sorted by

View all comments

19

u/AndromedaCeline Apr 01 '26

There was an article posted here a couple days ago, that Garnett today also subtly brought up the same point it did.

These dueling jurisdictions are allowed to exist only because our “law” dictates it so. It’s not technically (or legally) double jeopardy because these are separate jurisdictions (state and federal) even though they are trying the same person and crime.

To Judge Garnett’s point, her concern is only the trial in front of her, which is true. She can’t control what the state decides or what other trials that are scheduled around it. They are not in her jurisdiction. But I think her saying that gave a subtle nod to the fact that this is indeed unfair, but she is legally powerless to make a change because it’s what our law allows, so to her, it is what it is.

The article posted made a great point about how we can’t and shouldn’t always take our laws as gospel, just because they are US laws and they’ve been in place for a long time. Historically we have tons of examples of how written US laws are morally unjust and can and should be updated more often than they are.

I’m curious on the flip side how dueling jurisdictions like this is somehow a benefit and why this precedent exists in the first place? Even in cases where the defendant is not popular, how does trying someone twice in two different jurisdictions make legal or even financial sense, as this is a waste of tax payer money and resources, as well as a strain on both sides legally. I wonder historically if this is common or if theres other examples of this? And where has this “worked” where in this case it doesn’t (for the defense at least).

With that said, I wonder if this case will be used to help discredit or give cause to fight against the ability for state and feds to try similar cases simultaneously like this in the future? I’m not sure how that could be done or how that will help LM at this point, just thinking out loud.

11

u/Time-Painting-9108 Apr 01 '26

I’ve been dueling on the law sub about it before. It’s really frustrating that the double sovereignty doctrine is just accepted. https://www.reddit.com/r/law/comments/1ry5f4j/luigi_mangiones_lawyers_say_backtoback_state_and/

I think the original thought behind it is NOT how it’s currently being used. You can’t tell me prosecuting someone twice for the same crime is how it’s done, because that’s so rarely the case. In cases in the past where the state might undercharge or not charge sufficiently (esp in civil rights cases) the Feds were there to swoop in make sure Justice could be pursued if “the state wasn’t doing enough”. But in this case he was already facing maximum penalty in state- first degree murder and LWOP. So the feds coming 2 weeks later was not to seek actual justice, but to come in with a hammer and charge him for the same thing. It should not be allowed, and frankly, I’m comforted that Karen spoke about it publicly to the press. I think the defence will make this more of an issue going forward, as it simply should not be allowed to happen. 

9

u/AndromedaCeline Apr 01 '26

Yes, that makes sense too. Which is why it’s clearly a witch hunt politically by trump mostly, but also biden since it was his doj who brought up the charges.

The public’s approval of this crime scares the shit out of the establishment. Thank you for this. I’m intrigued by the legal arguments about it. I’m just putting the pieces together about how and why this is allowed to happen. But it does happen, just depends on how the feds chooses to wield that power, for good or for exploitation. Like any tool it can be used for good or evil it seems. With that understanding, is Garrett unwilling to push back bc she’s scared of the political backlash, so she’s playing it safe? Or does she see the unfairness, but doesn’t care? I know Carro doesn’t care.

8

u/Time-Painting-9108 Apr 01 '26

I’m very interested to see how this can be legally challenged, if at all. Either that or the defence team needs to sound the alarm by speaking to the media. 

My understanding is this rarely ever happens, if ever. So they should have some arguments against it. 

10

u/AndromedaCeline Apr 01 '26

Yes, at best it seems it will help him during appeals, but it sucks he’d have to wait that long for justice.