Supervisory officers testify Mangione's arrest was lawful, despite lack of warrant for search.
Two Altoona police supervisors testified Thursday that arresting Luigi Mangione on charges of murder and forgery without a search warrant was lawful because he was already in custody. The testimony came as the sixth day of a suppression hearing in New York City to determine what evidence will or won't be used against Mangione when he goes on trial.
Sgt John Burns, a 12-year veteran of the Altoona Police Department, testified that officers had sufficient reason to believe Mangione had been involved in another jurisdiction's crime. "My decision was we didn't need a search warrant," Burns said. "He was in custody for an incident in Pennsylvania, so it falls under search incident to arrest."
When asked if any writings were found in the bag, Burns replied yes, including loose papers with handwritten notes. Among these notes was one with a crudely drawn map of Pittsburgh and surrounding cities, and another that read "pluck eyebrows."
However, Mangione's defense team maintains that the lack of a warrant made the search and seizure illegal. They also claim officers were too late reading Mangione his Miranda rights and continued to pepper him with questions after he indicated he preferred to remain silent.
Lt William Hanelly defended the warrantless search of Mangione's backpack, testifying that he directed officers to take Mangione into custody after consulting with an assistant district attorney about charges. "It's a warrant exception in Pennsylvania," Hanelly said. "Police can search the person and their items."
Two Altoona police supervisors testified Thursday that arresting Luigi Mangione on charges of murder and forgery without a search warrant was lawful because he was already in custody. The testimony came as the sixth day of a suppression hearing in New York City to determine what evidence will or won't be used against Mangione when he goes on trial.
Sgt John Burns, a 12-year veteran of the Altoona Police Department, testified that officers had sufficient reason to believe Mangione had been involved in another jurisdiction's crime. "My decision was we didn't need a search warrant," Burns said. "He was in custody for an incident in Pennsylvania, so it falls under search incident to arrest."
When asked if any writings were found in the bag, Burns replied yes, including loose papers with handwritten notes. Among these notes was one with a crudely drawn map of Pittsburgh and surrounding cities, and another that read "pluck eyebrows."
However, Mangione's defense team maintains that the lack of a warrant made the search and seizure illegal. They also claim officers were too late reading Mangione his Miranda rights and continued to pepper him with questions after he indicated he preferred to remain silent.
Lt William Hanelly defended the warrantless search of Mangione's backpack, testifying that he directed officers to take Mangione into custody after consulting with an assistant district attorney about charges. "It's a warrant exception in Pennsylvania," Hanelly said. "Police can search the person and their items."
This whole thing is just so weird... I mean, I get it that they had reason to believe Mangione was involved in some other crime, but do they really need to throw around terms like 'search incident to arrest' willy-nilly? Like, didn't they have a chance to read him his rights properly first? 
And what's up with the handwritten notes and map? Is that just some random stuff or is there more to it than meets the eye? 
his lawyers are fighting hard to get his evidence tossed out, which is totally fair given the lack of a search warrant 
. The cops had reason to believe he was involved in another crime, so they made an arrest without a warrant – it's not like they just went door-to-door looking for random people 
. And yeah, maybe they found some weird stuff in his bag, but that doesn't mean the search itself is illegal 
. It sounds like the cops followed the law and did what was necessary to make an arrest. If Mangione's worried about the search, he should've just told them no 
.
btw, i'm lowkey impressed by sgt burns he's like, a total pro for figuring out that the search incident 2 arrest thingy is legit 
and i mean, those handwritten notes tho! that crude map of pittsburgh is giving me LIFE 
can't wait 2 see what else they find at trial 
... I mean, I think it's kinda cool that police got to make an arrest without a warrant, but at the same time, I don't know if they did everything right... Like, Sgt Burns said they didn't need a search warrant because Mangione was already in custody, but what if they messed up his Miranda rights or something? 
I don't know what to think anymore 
It seems like they were trying to catch more evidence but ended up making things worse for themselves. I don't know, maybe I'm just reading too much into it because I'm still stressed about my exam tomorrow 
. But seriously though, isn't a search warrant kinda important or something? 
. I'm not saying Mangione is innocent or anything, but it does seem like there's some grey area here 
And those handwritten notes with the weird map and eyebrow pluckin' note? Like, what's up with that?! 
I don't get how that exception thing works... it seems like just an excuse for cops to do whatever they want. 
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... seems like they could be pretty random stuff. Is that really enough to connect him to a murder and forgery charge? And didn't the officers just read Mangione his Miranda rights way too late, which means he probably can't even say if he wants to talk or not anymore?
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