Police Officer Questioned Mangione Before Arresting Him

And it's day five of the Luigi Manion evidentiary hearing. Another Altuna, Pennsylvania police officer took the stand today to talk about the search of Manion's backpack and whether it was lawful. And today's Arlene Richards was in the courtroom where the defense challenged the officer's testimony. Luigi Manion's defense attorney vigorously questioned officer Steven Fox on Tuesday, day five of the evidentiary hearing in Manion's case. The defense claims that certain statements Manion made before he was placed under arrest should be removed from evidence before the case goes to trial. Manion's attorney, Karen Freriedman Agnafilo, accused Fox of attempting to get incriminating evidence from Manioni after he told the defendant he had a right to remain silent, which is also called reading his Miranda rights. Fox, who is a patrolman with the Altuna, Pennsylvania Police Department, said before he read Manion his Miranda rights, he had asked him why he lied about his ID. But he said he wasn't trying to get incriminating evidence. The defense countered anything someone says after Miranda writes, "Whatever the person says could be used against them in court. They are given when an officer wants to question the person, it puts the person in custody." Agnafillo then played body cam footage of Fox telling Manion that he was not in custody immediately after reading his rights. She accused Fox of telling Manion he was not in custody so that he would respond to the question. Manion had chosen to remain silent. Fox said Manion was placed in detention but not in custody, which is different. This line of questioning is the defense's effort to establish that statements Manion made about the fake ID he gave to police before he was read his Miranda rights should be tossed from the case before trial. Fox said Manion was not free to leave as they were continuing to investigate the ID. Video footage then shows Fox frisking Manion and handcuffing him. Agnafillo accused Fox of handcuffing Manion after he exercised his right to remain silent. Fox explained that his suspicion was heightened when Mangioni chose not to answer because he was aware this might be the person that New York police were looking for. In earlier testimony about the search of Manion's backpack, Fox testified that it was lawful because it was incident to an arrest. Two supervising officers believed the warrant was necessary because they knew about the New York case. Fox testified that a search of the person and his belongings incident to arrest is legal whether the charge is violent or nonviolent. The defense had also asked the court to toss out key evidence including the gun and ammunition before the trial. Manion has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered Brian Thompson, a United Healthcare CEO. The hearing is expected to resume on Wednesday. Arlene Richards, NTD News.