In a legal pivot, a New York federal judge has reconsidered a previous ruling regarding evidence found in Luigi Mangione’s backpack. Though Altoona police maintain that the backpack’s contents—which allegedly include a firearm, a silencer, and a “manifesto”—are admissible, the judge has now ordered a brief evidentiary hearing due to the gravity of the charges. This hearing will be limited to testimony from a single witness: an officer from the Altoona Police Department. Mangione stands accused of the December 2024 stalking and murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. He was captured several days after the shooting, at McDonald’s on Plank Road in Altoona.