Luigi Mangione’s Defense Takes Dramatic New Turn

**Deven** (0:08)
Welcome to The TMZ Podcast. Deven here with Branson.

**Branson** (0:11)
Like the pink?

**Deven** (0:13)
I wasn't gonna mention it. I made a huge deal about it last time. It's more of like a salmon, I would say.

**Branson** (0:19)
Can I say that I woke up and I put this shirt on, I walk in TMZ today, Harvey is also wearing pink.

**Deven** (0:26)
And what do you want me to do with that information?

**Branson** (0:28)
Luca's wearing pink as well.

**Deven** (0:29)
So you're saying, are you saying you started a movement?

**Branson** (0:32)
Yeah, there's some kind of connection going on this morning, and I think it's pink.

**Deven** (0:36)
Okay, all right, well.

**Branson** (0:37)
Be pink.

**Deven** (0:38)
It was pink, wasn't that something from, what's that, that stupid movie with, yeah, Mean Girls, thank you, thank you.
Oh, okay, there you go. Really?

**Branson** (0:48)
I haven't seen that in a long, long time.

**Deven** (0:49)
Oh, sure, because I'm pretty sure it's Wednesday today.

**Branson** (0:52)
I'm not a chick, I haven't.

**Deven** (0:54)
So we will get into the stories.
So big news, big update in the Luigi Mangione case. He was in court this morning, and his, basically, defense put out what his defense is going to be, and it has some huge ramifications with how much time he could potentially get if convicted.

**Branson** (1:17)
Which could be much less.

**Deven** (1:19)
Much less than the further charge that he was facing.

**Branson** (1:23)
Based on a new defense strategy, I guess you would say.

**Deven** (1:27)
So we'll get into that.
More, we'll cover some more of the Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO fallout that happened yesterday, obviously broke the story Tuesday night. A lot.

**Branson** (1:38)
You've been working on this a lot.

**Deven** (1:39)
Yes, I have. A lot happened yesterday on social media. Different people talking. He had a show last night. Some social media clues that we will get into.
So yeah, they're not speaking publicly, but their actions on social media are, you know.

**Branson** (1:57)
Very high school.

**Deven** (1:58)
Leaving like breadcrumbs.

**Branson** (1:59)
It's a little high school.

**Deven** (2:00)
It is.

**Branson** (2:01)
But it's first order of business and we'll get into it. Yes, we will. Always first order of business.

**Deven** (2:05)
And then lastly, was it our favorite Australian or was it Jacob?

**Branson** (2:10)
Our favorite Australian.

**Deven** (2:11)
Okay, my old friend, Charlie Cotton. Miss him a lot.
And he got Ted Cruz yesterday. And you know, there's a lot going on in the world, but he asked him what he thought of Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry's relationship.

**Branson** (2:27)
It's shocking what he received.

**Deven** (2:28)
It is kind of a mess. I don't know. I kind of agree with him, though. Okay. So first order of business, Luigi Mangione. So for those who don't remember, I'm sure a lot of people do. The guy with the crazy eyebrows who killed Brian Thompson, the United Healthcare CEO. He's been in jail ever since, became kind of a celebrity, which is kind of crazy in the day and age we're living.
So he was in court today and he was there with his legal team and they informed the court that he plans to use an extreme emotional disturbance defense in his murder trial for killing Brian Thompson.
And what the ramifications are of this is that, I guess this, I've never heard of this extreme emotional disturbance, EED.

**Branson** (3:19)
You've heard of EED, but not EED.

**Deven** (3:21)
I've heard of EED. I've never suffered from it. There's a lot of that. But the defense is, apparently this defense can be used in New York and a few other states. And it argues that the defendant was suffering from a severe emotional disturbance at the time of the crime.

**Branson** (3:37)
So essentially what he's arguing is that something led him to leaving his house, pulling a gun out and shooting the CEO of United Health Care.

**Deven** (3:46)
Correct. And what the impact of this, for my notes here, is that if the jury accepts this defense, he would not be convicted of murder. Instead, it would be reduced to first degree manslaughter. And the ramifications are obviously this guy, he wasn't facing the death penalty, but he was facing life in prison without parole. But if convicted of manslaughter, it's a much lesser sentence. As you guys said, it's minimum a year, maximum 15, or is that if it's first or second degree?
So if it's first degree manslaughter, minimum five years, maximum 25 If it's a second degree manslaughter, then it would be a year to possibly 15, which I mean, dude, the guy's 28 years old. That's a huge, that's a massive difference in sentence.