Pennsylvania attorney Thomas Dickey has been hired to lead the defense of Luigi Mangione, who was arrested and charged on Monday in last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Dickey appeared alongside Mangione on Tuesday during an extradition hearing at Pennsylvania’s Blair County Courthouse, where the defendant was ordered to be held without bail pending his potential extradition to face murder charges in New York.
While speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Dickey said that he would be filing a writ of habeas corpus to challenge the legality of his client’s detention and indicated that he was “glad” for the “outpouring of support” that Mangione was receiving from some online.
“If you’re an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent,” Dickey said. “None of us would want anything other than that if that were us in those shoes. So, I’m glad he has some support.”
Newsweek reached out to Dickey’s office via email for comment on Tuesday.
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What is Tom Dickey’s background?
An experienced trial lawyer in his 41st year of private practice, Dickey graduated from Altoona High School and Saint Francis University before obtaining his law degree from Ohio Northern University.
Dickey has worked in both private practice and with the Blair County Public Defenders Office. He is representing Mangione as private counsel. In addition to his courtroom work, Dickey has acted as a legal analyst for CNN and other media outlets.
Tom Dickey’s previous cases
Dickey has worked on a wide range of criminal cases, from DUIs to death penalty murder cases. A page on his law firm’s website points out that two of his cases were “specially featured in a state-wide legal journal, The Legal Intelligencer.”
Can Tom Dickey practice law in New York?
While Dickey has represented clients throughout Pennsylvania and in federal court, it is unclear whether he is licensed to practice law in New York state. On Tuesday, he told reporters that he may represent Mangione if the suspect faces murder charges in the Empire State.
“That could be a possibility,” Dickey said when asked whether he would “be able” to represent Mangione in New York during a press conference at his law office.
