(NewsNation) — Tuesday marked the eighth day of pretrial hearings in the Luigi Mangione case.
Mangione, the man charged with murder in the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appeared camera-shy during the proceedings. Mangione could be seen with his arms out, body stiff, with what seemed to be a bit of a snarl on his face.
Not even moments later, the 27-year-old immediately reversed course by leaning forward and flashing a big, toothy grin at the court photographer.
Susan Constantine, a trial strategy expert, says Mangione’s actions show sociopathic tendencies because of his ability to switch personalities on a dime.
“He lives in this 90% range that it only takes just a second to kick him off,” she told “Banfield.” “So, he’s already up there. His tank is already full, so he can go on and off really quick like a light switch.
“The first time we look at scorn and anger, disgust, he’s blading, he’s in defense mode, and then he switches gears, right? They’re both him. No one personality is stronger than the other. This is just who he is,” Constantine added.
Choosing jury for Mangione trial comes down to emotion: Constantine
Constantine, who is also a jury consultant, pointed out that if she were choosing the individuals for Mangione’s trial, she would focus on two things: Seeing how emotive they are and how they express themselves when they’re talking and answering questions.
“That tells me that they’ve got a lot of emotion, that they actually emoted on their face,” she explained. “If they are highly emotional and they can be triggered very quickly, emotions that he (Mangione) is projecting actually can project to make those jurors feel that same emotion. So, you’ve got to be very careful with it.
“As charismatic, likable, approachable and as attractive as he is, he can … woo those jurors. So, it really is a very interesting makeup.”