What a blow to prosecutors! A district court judge ruled this morning that Luigi Mangione will not face a possible death penalty sentence in the New York federal criminal case where he is charged with killing health insurance CEO Brian Thompson.

Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett just dismissed two of the four criminal counts Mangione faced.

The potential maximum sentence for the remaining two counts for causing Thompson’s death under federal stalking laws is “life in prison without parole,” Garnett noted.

The third count, which accused Mangione of brandishing and discharging a handgun equipped with a silencer in connection with that alleged stalking, would have made this a death penalty case if it stood.

For a variety of reason, I honestly don't know if a jury would even convict him. For one thing, he's enormously popular. For another, jurors who just saw their insurance premiums double would probably look for a way not to convict.