Defense lawyer Thomas Dickey was only a few hours into taking on the most high-profile criminal case of his career Tuesday when he decided to hold an impromptu press conference to challenge the charges against his client, accused killer Luigi Mangione.
“I haven’t seen any evidence that says that he’s the shooter,” Dickey said of Mangione, who police allege gunned down UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson last week outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.
The freewheeling, silver-haired lawyer addressed reporters in his law office in Altoona, the sleepy Pennsylvania city nestled in the Allegheny Mountains where Mangione was arrested Monday at a McDonald’s after a nationwide manhunt.
In his nearly 18 minutes in front of news cameras, Dickey seemed at ease, answering a barrage of questions off the cuff. He said he developed a strong bond with Mangione in their short time together, though he had only represented him at one court hearing earlier Tuesday afternoon and didn’t seem fully up to speed on the case. Reporters corrected Dickey when he mistakenly said he believed that Mangione already had entered a not-guilty plea at an initial court appearance Monday. “As long as he hasn’t pleaded guilty, that’s all I care about,” he quipped.
When a male reporter and female reporter asked questions at the same time, Dickey interjected: “Excuse me. Ladies first.”
“He’s a very savvy and competitive litigator,” said defense lawyer David DeFazio, who previously worked a capital case with Dickey in which a military veteran was charged in a double homicide. “He knows how to talk to a jury and he knows how to object.”
Dickey, a graduate of Altoona High School, received his law degree from Ohio Northern University, according to his law firm’s website. He started his career working at the public defenders’ office in Blair County, where Altoona is located, and went into private practice in 1984. His legal work has run the gamut, from defending clients against drunken-driving charges to representing a husband charged in the fatal shooting of his estranged wife.
“I can’t say that everybody that walked through my door was innocent, but I can tell you 100% of them were presumed innocent,” Dickey told a local newspaper in 2015. “I defend the Constitution. I couldn’t be more proud to do that.”
Pennsylvania defense lawyer Theodore Krol said Dickey is probably the most recognized name for criminal cases in Blair County. The impromptu press conference was also not out of character, Krol said. “He shoots from the hip. He jumps right in,” Krol said. “He doesn’t shy away from the media at all.”
Still, none of Dickey’s past cases have received worldwide attention like Mangione’s. Pennsylvania prosecutors have charged the former tech worker with firearm, forgery and other charges. New York prosecutors have also charged him with five criminal counts, including second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Mangione is being detained in Pennsylvania. He was represented by Dickey for the first time Tuesday afternoon at a hearing in the Blair County Courthouse, where the lawyer said he would fight his client’s extradition to New York. If Mangione is extradited, he would likely have a New York lawyer represent him on the New York charges.
The courthouse in Hollidaysburg is on a quiet street where some shops close by midafternoon. This week, news crews lined the sidewalk, and reporters and onlookers gathered in a back alley where defendants enter and leave.
When Mangione was led out of the county courthouse Tuesday, a cluster of reporters and residents packed together to get a look at him. As he was hustled into a waiting patrol car, someone shouted, “Luigi, why’d you do it?” Another person joked, “Luigi, it’s me, Mario!”
A woman who lives across the alley from the back of the courthouse was frustrated by the spectacle as camera flashes lighted up the scene. “Stay off my property, guys, come on now,” she said several times.
When Mangione was arrested, police found a pistol and silencer, both produced by 3-D printing, according to investigators. He also had a handwritten three-page document that showed “some ill will toward corporate America,” said New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. Before Mangione’s capture, NYPD investigators released surveillance-camera photos that they say tie him to the shooting of Thompson.
Dickey, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, was dismissive of the photos at his press conference.
“I don’t have any control over what the NYPD does and, if they release something, I hope I can get my hands on them,” he said. “If you guys get ’em, send them to me.”
On Monday, before Dickey was retained as his lawyer, Mangione challenged several details of his arrest at his arraignment. The next day, Mangione struggled with officers and shouted to reporters as he was led into court for his extradition hearing.
But inside the courthouse, Dickey was by his side and when Mangione was about to interject during the hearing, he leaned over to shush him.
Dickey said Mangione wouldn’t be talking on his watch. “As long as I’m going to be the lawyer, I’m going to do all the talking. he told reporters. “My client is not going to say anything.”