The attorney for suspect Luigi Mangione, who was charged for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, said he intends to challenge the forensic evidence that police say connect his client to the crime scene.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday that the three shell casings found at the scene of Thompson’s shooting in Manhattan matched the ghost gun found on Mangione when he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa. earlier this week.
Tisch also said the crime lab results matched the Mangione’s fingerprints to a water bottle and a Kind bar wrapper found near the scene of the killing.
In an interview with CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” on Wednesday evening, defense attorney Thomas Dickey called into question the accuracy of the evidence and said he would challenge its admissibility in court.
“I still haven‘t seen that evidence. Lawyers need to see evidence,” Dickey said, in response to Tisch’s announcement about the evidence, adding, “Saying you have something and getting that admitted into court are two different things.”
Dickey said the fingerprint and ballistic evidence, which the NYPD says it has, are “two sciences, in and of themselves,” that “have come under some criticism in the past, relative to their credibility, their truthfulness, their accuracy, however you want to do it.”
“So that‘s why, as lawyers, we need to see it, we need to see how did they collect it, how much of it matches,” he continued. “You know, I don’t want to get too technical, but fingerprints, they go by ridges, different things like that.”
Dickey also noted that he expects to get his own experts and challenge the admissibility of the evidence.
“And then we would have our experts,” he said. “We would have experts take a look at that, and then we would challenge its admissibility and challenge the accuracy of those results.”
Asked whether he is questioning the methodology the NYPD is using to match fingerprints, Dickey said, “Well, I’d have to see it.”
“I mean, anybody can say, if they’re going to use it, of course they’re going to say that,” he said. “But you have to see things.”
“And that’s why, you know, people need to keep an open mind,” the attorney continued. “We would get our day in court, and we would get that evidence. We can examine that evidence and challenge it, you know, all the way.”
