Luigi Mangione‘s attorney is calling out NYC Mayor Eric Adams for putting on a dog and pony show with the alleged murderer that will make it impossible for her client to get a fair trial.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo went off on Mayor Adams and law enforcement Monday during Mangione’s arraignment, blasting him for last week’s scene on a helicopter pad as Mangione was extradited to face murder charges. You’ll recall he was flanked by about a dozen NYPD officers and FBI agents — many heavily armed — as well as the Mayor himself.
12/19/24
Agnifilo says her client’s Constitutional right to a presumption of innocence is being violated — he was on display for everyone to see in the biggest staged perp walk I’ve ever seen in my career” … none of which was necessary, she says, as Mangione’s been totally cooperative since his arrest in PA.
She called the perp walk “perfectly choreographed,” and was especially incensed by Mayor Adams being part of it — “Your Honor, that just made it utterly political.” Agnifilo cited case law stating “these staged perp walks to the media, unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement objective, is unconstitutional.”
Then, it got personal when Agnifilo added, “The Mayor should know more than anyone there is a presumption of innocence, that he too is afforded when he’s dealing with his own issues” … referring to the current federal indictment Adams is facing for alleged corruption.
She claims Adams is merely using Mangione’s capture and trial to deflect attention from his own criminal case.
It is true … the Mayor marching with law enforcement transferring Mangione raised a lot of eyebrows because of the optics — as Agnifilo pointed out, it can taint a jury pool, making it appear Mangione is already guilty before he even stands trial.
Mangione’s lead attorney also ripped prosecutors from the Manhattan D.A.’s Office and the U.S. Attorney for, as she sees it, battling over her client. She said in court, “He’s being treated like a human ping pong ball between these warring jurisdictions.”
Fact is, if nothing else, Agnifilo’s laying the grounds for an appeal … if Mangione is convicted.