Mangione Evidence Hearing Resumes, Defense Claims Illegal Search and Seizure

And it's day five of the evidentiary hearing in the Luigi Manion case. Manion has been accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. His defense is claiming that police conducted an illegal search and seizure. We turn now to our reporter Arlene Richards who's been in the courtroom this morning. Arlene, good to see you again. The proceedings started a little late this morning. Before we get into who's on the stand, go over for us what the defense is claiming and what testimony so far may support their claim. >> Well, good afternoon, Steph. Yes, I have been in the courtroom this morning. They did get a late start, but um as far as what the defense is claiming, as you said, they're claiming that there was an illegal search and seizure. Uh, and they're saying this because at some point in the um incident that happened at McDonald's, um, they actually did start the search of the backpack, but this was after Luigi Manioni was read his Miranda rights and he was handcuffed and placed into official custody. They began the search and one of the officers, Officer Waser, found a magazine clip, which is bullets, right? Ammunition. She found the ammunition and at some point one of the other officers said, "Well, we'd better stop here and put everything back in the bag and take it to the station to continue the search." And then another officer, they started to have a conversation. And another officer said, "I think at this point we need to get a search warrant." His supervisor said, "No, we don't need the search warrant. This is a search incident to arrest." But the other officer um kind of pushed back and said, "Well, we already know who he is." Meaning that they knew that he was probably likely the person that the New York police were looking for in the CEO shooting. So that's so that's why they're claiming now that this was an illegal search um because of what this officer uh said, I believe. >> Now, which officer was testifying when you left the courtroom and what did he say? So, this was officer Steven Fox. He was a patrolman who was in the K-9 unit. He testified that he heard the dispatch talk about um McDonald's manager calling and saying that some of the customers believe they see the man who uh conducted the shooting or who did the shooting in New York or that New York police were looking for. He said he waited a little while. He listened a little longer and then he heard that they couldn't um find the ID that he had provided. And at that point he went to the McDonald's on his own. And when he got there uh at some point he was the person that actually read um Mangi Oni his rights, read him his Miranda rights. He's the one who handcuffed him and placed him in detention. What they call detention. And detention is when you're temporarily placed on hold, meaning that you can't leave. but they are conducting an investigation. So, he wasn't quite under arrest yet, but he was detained. And then he's also the officer that was there while the search was being conducted, and he was the one who said, "We'd better stop now and put things back and take it back to the station." Now, he explained that the reason why he said that was because he didn't want anything else to become contaminated as far as taking things out and putting them on the table. So he said that could contaminate them and at the station would be a safer environment. And he was also concerned about them finding more ammunition or guns or knives or or whatever because he knew that this was the man that likely the New York police were looking for. So he wanted to make sure everyone was safe and that they would take it back um to the station for search. >> Okay. And did he provide any other more testimony regarding the actual search of the backpack and the defense's claim that they needed a warrant? Yes. He explained that um this was incident to arrest and that the officer who was concerned about it, Officer Trent, who talked about how they think he thinks they should get a search warrant. Um he was speaking to his supervisor and the supervisor has rank and the supervisor said, "No, this is a search incident to arrest. This is Pennsylvania law and they were following Pennsylvania law." So, as far as officer Fox is concerned, um Trent made a mistake. he misspoke or he he didn't understand the law at the time. And once the supervisor speaks, that's who they follow. So, it was a search incident to arrest. They took the bag back to the station. They continue the search and that's where they found the gun and some other items. Um and so he's saying that it wasn't unlawful for them to search the bag to begin with because at that point uh Mangoni had been placed officially under arrest and and that means that they can search his body or any items that he has around him at the time. So, we were on break when I came out uh for this and and I believe when I go back in, Officer Fox will continue because they're going through the body cam footage as they've done with all the officers and he will continue to talk about the search and and what happened probably at the station. Steph, >> much scrutiny on these fine points today. I'm looking forward to hearing more updates from you. Arlene Richards, thank you so