New Delhi, May 18 -- A judge has ruled that a gun and notebook allegedly linking Luigi Mangione to the killing of Brian Thompson can be used as evidence during his upcoming murder trial.

Judge Gregory Carro issued the decision on Monday (May 18), rejecting defense arguments that the items were illegally seized before police obtained a search warrant.

The ruling is considered a major victory for prosecutors ahead of Mangione's state murder trial, which is scheduled to begin on September 8.

While the judge allowed prosecutors to use evidence recovered during a later inventory search at a police station, he ruled that some items found during an earlier warrantless search at a McDonald's must be excluded.

"I find that the search of backpa...