A two-hour video taped statement that Dr. Lishan Wang made to Branford police, after he was arrested in connection with the murder of Dr. Vanjinder Toor nearly three years ago, will not be admitted at his trial unless Dr. Wang takes the stand.
The issue of Dr. Wang’s statement to police formally surfaced in Superior Court on New Haven’s Elm Street last week, although the prosecutor said he informed Dr. Wang’s former public defenders in the case more than two years ago that he did not intend to use the statement at trial. As it turned out, Dr. Wang, 47, had asked for an attorney at the time of his statement. The police apparently did not understand what he was saying; had they understood, the interview should have stopped.
The prosecutor, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Eugene Calistro Jr., told the Eagle the state’s case is strong without the two-hour videotaped statement that was taken by police on the morning of the murder, April 26, 2010. A year after the murder, Superior Court Judge Roland D. Fasano found there was sufficient evidence to show that Dr. Wang pumped two bullets into the head and chest of Dr. Toor. The prosecution says Dr. Wang blamed Dr. Toor for his dismissal from the medical profession and took revenge. Dr. Toor, a Yale doctor, was gunned down outside his Branford condo.
“The state is not concerned about the [Wang] statement,” Calistro said in an interview, “not in the least. We knew about this a while back. There is other evidence in addition to what was presented at the probable cause hearing that supports this case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Calistro told the Eagle that he informed Wang’s three prior public defenders long ago that he would not use the Wang statement.
“I had to go back and listen to it for a couple of times,” Calistro told the Eagle. “With no disrespect to the defendant, I think it was difficult to understand him because of his accent that he wanted an attorney. It was unclear. It was not anything intentionally done. I think the police didn’t understand him.”
The police interviewing him said Dr. Wang wanted “an attorney for his children.” Uncertain what he meant, they asked again if were willing to talk to them, and he again said he wanted an attorney for his children.
The issue of the police videotape formally came to light as Dr. Wang presented yet another set of motions last week to Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford who sits in Superior Court in New Haven. Dr. Wang told Judge Clifford that in his view the videotape was obtained illegally.
Judge Clifford told Dr. Wang, who is representing himself, that if during his trial, Dr. Wang decides to testify, then the state’s attorney may admit the tape into the court record and may question him about it.
Dr. Wang drove from his home in Georgia to Branford and was at the condo when Dr. Toor left to go to work. He told police he spoke to Dr. Toor. He also allegedly attempted to kill Dr. Toor’s wife. Police found guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his van, along with the names and address of other doctors in New York whom Dr. Wang wanted to see after he left Branford.
During the court session, Judge Clifford said a new judge will soon preside over the Wang murder trial, which may get underway in September.
Thomas V. O’Keefe, Jr., a senior judge on the bench, has been appointed to try the case. He is expected to take over the case soon so that he can familiarize himself with an unprecedented set of legal issues that have developed in this case. The issues stem from Dr. Wang’s decision to represent himself, even though he still has a nominal stand-by attorney from the public defender’s office.
One of the legal issues is serious enough to create a constitutional issue that might require appellate review. That issue centers on who pays for Dr. Wang’s expert witnesses, those he would call at trial. Both sides agree that a mental health expert will be called to testify. Until this issue is resolved, the trial could be delayed for a considerable period of time.
The constitutional issue stems from Dr. Wang’s insistence that he alone represent himself though he has a nominal stand-by attorney who under orders from the public defender’s top officials has virtually bowed out of the case except for answering occasional questions raised in court.
Under Connecticut law the only way Dr. Wang can get the experts he needs at trial is if he agrees to be represented by the public defender’s office. He was in the past but has since rejected them. The public defender’s office has insisted it will not expend funds for a client it does not fully represent.
The judiciary has indicated it will not pay for expert witnesses for Dr. Wang and Calistro told the Eagle that it is not the state’s responsibility to finance Dr. Wang’s expert witnesses.
Some states permit expert witness costs to be financed even though the indigent defendant does not use a public defender’s office. But Connecticut is not one of them. So far no expert witnesses have been retained for Dr. Wang’s trial.
Among the 10 motions that Dr. Wang presented to Judge Clifford, a motion clearly not vetted by his stand-by attorney, was “for the Court to order an investigation into the truth.” The judge said the motion was vague and over broad and denied it.
Dr. Wang is due back in Superior Court on March 12. Judge O’Keefe may have the case by then.
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