Luigi Mangione’s lawyers say he wasn’t read his rights and had his backpack searched without a warrant

In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, attorneys said prosecutors should also be barred from using his statements to law enforcement officers and his backpack, where a gun and ammunition were found, during the trial.

They said Mangione was not read his rights before he was questioned by law enforcement officers, who arrested him after the shooting of Brian Thompson, who was shot and killed while arriving at a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference.

They added that officers did not obtain a warrant before searching Mangione’s bag.

Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4 fatal shooting of Brian Thompson as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.

The killing sparked a search operation in several states after the suspected shooter fled the scene and rode a bicycle to Central Park, before taking a taxi to a bus stop that serves several neighboring states.

Five days later, information from a McDonald’s restaurant about 233 miles (375 kilometers) away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led police to arrest Mangione. He has been held without bail since then.

Last month, Mangione’s lawyers asked for the federal charges against him to be dropped and the death penalty to be vacated as a result of public comments made by U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi. In April, Bundy directed New York prosecutors to seek the death penalty, calling Thompson’s killing “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Murder cases are usually tried in state courts, but prosecutors also charged Mangione under a federal law for murders committed with firearms as part of other “crimes of violence.” It’s the only charge for which Mangione could face the death penalty, because it’s not used in New York state.

Papers filed early Saturday morning argued that charge should be dropped because prosecutors failed to specify what other crimes might be needed to convict him, saying the other alleged crime — stalking — is not a crime of violence.

The assassination and its aftermath have captured the American imagination, unleashing a cascade of online resentment and vitriol toward American health insurance companies, while raising corporate executives’ concerns about security.

After the murder, investigators found the words “delay,” “deny,” and “deposit” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by critics of the insurance industry.