Nora Grace-Flood photo
Defense attorneys Norm Pattis and Kevin Smith with Qinxuan Pan Wednesday.
Alleged killer Qinxuan Pan had enough cash in the family to get out of prison and potentially run a second time in the opposite direction of an impending murder trial — but a state judge wouldn’t accept the $2 million check.
That was the upshot of a 10-minute bond hearing that took place Wednesday morning in Courtroom 6A of the state courthouse at 235 Church St.
That hearing was held after the defense counsel for Pan — a 31-year-old former MIT artificial intelligence researcher who has been arrested for the Feb. 6, 2021 murder of 26-year-old Yale grad student Kevin Jiang — requested judicial review of an earlier decision to incarcerate Pan on a $20 million bond. Pan has has been held in prison on that high bond for over a year after he was arrested in Alabama in May 2021 following a three-month nationwide manhunt.
On Wednesday, defense attorney Norm Pattis, joined by colleague Kevin Smith, said that Pan was deserving of a lowered bail option — and that his family was capable of posting it. Specifically, he argued that Pan should be able to post 10 percent of his bond — or $2 million in total — to get out of prison before the trial.
State Judge Gerald Harmon, however, responded that $2 million wouldn’t cut it, not just because Pan poses a serious flight risk, but because he may be dangerous.
Ensuring Pan stays in prison, Harmon concluded, is a “public safety issue.”
That decision followed a two-day probable cause hearing after which another state judge found Pan more likely than not committed the murder he’s been charged with. That ruling allows state prosecutors to move ahead with Pan’s criminal case and try to convince a jury that Pan is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Harmon’s ruling also comes in the wake of a state Supreme Court decision that found that prosecutors must show why a bond amount should remain if a defendant presents is able to present evidence about their financial circumstances. As reported by the CT Mirror’s Jaden Edison, the state’s highest court underscored that pathway for criminal defendants to push back against prosecutors’ claims for high bail amounts in a decision pertaining to Pan’s $20 million bond.
Judge Harmon: Pan a "public safety issue."
On Wednesday, Pattis argued that despite the outcome of the probable cause hearing, the case is limited to “circumstantial evidence with the absence of motive.”
Pattis used that uncertainty to contend that Pan should be granted the option to leave prison prior to the start of the trial in exchange for $2 million in cash. He asked the judge to make an exception that would have taken inspiration from a recent bail bond law that allows all bonds set at $20,000 or less to be posted in the state of Connecticut with an option of paying “10 percent cash only” directly to the state.
Pattis carried with him a sworn affidavit testifying that Pan’s family does possess a $2.6 million cash equivalent in real estate.
Were Pan’s parents to sell their home as well as other multi-family properties under their ownership, they could theoretically pay that $2 million, Pattis said. He added there was no promise that his parents would take such action to “purchase their son’s liberty,” as he put it, “notwithstanding suspicions that they played a role” in Pan’s ability to flee to Alabama following February 2021’s tragedy.
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Stacy Miranda, who had originally argued in favor of hitting Pan with a much more substantial bond of around $50 million, cited her previously filed arguments assuring the judge that Pan would likely flee just as he had done following the shooting if his family did successfully pay that $2 million.
Ultimately, Judge Harmon sided with the state, agreeing that “the lengths [Pan] went to” to avoid the police following Jiang’s death did not give him faith that Pan would stick around for trial if given the chance to bolt.
Harmon said Pan “poses a uniquely significant” and “extraordinary flight risk,” adding that his freedom would mean “danger to the community and to himself.”
After that bond hearing, Kevin Jiang’s mother, Linda Liu, wearing all black with the exception of a cheetah print scarf around her neck, shook the hands of both state attorneys Stacy Miranda and Kelly Davis.
“I’m so glad to hear the judge’s decision,” Liu said. “This is the first step towards justice,” she stated. “Justice is coming.”
“Let’s continue to pray to Jesus, to God, to have righteousness,” she continued.
She said the judge’s ruling means “Justice still exists in the U.S.A.”
Smith and Pan on Wednesday.
Previous articles about Jiang’s murder and Pan’s arrest.
Judge Finds Probable Cause In Yale Murder Case
Courtroom Testimonies Revisit Yale Murder
Yale Murder Suspect Declared“Competent”
Yale Murder Suspect To Receive“Competency Exam“
Yale Murder Case Continued To September
14 Months Later,“Justice Needs To Be Done”
Yale Murder Case Continued Again
Yale Murder Case Continued To February As Pan Seeks Evidence Access
Yale Murder Case Continued To December While Pan Reviews Evidence In Prison Library
Norm Pattis Takes On Yale Murder Case
Judge Keeps Pan’s Bond At $20M
Wrong-Race Dispatch Recording Released
New Details Emerge On Why Cop Let Pan Go
Warrant Ties Pan To Other Local Shootings; North Haven Cops Ran Stolen Plate
Alleged Murderer’s Parents Show Support
Pan’s Bail Set At $20M
Kevin Jiang’s Alleged Murderer Arrested
New Warrant Charges Pan With Murder
$10K Reward Posted For Pan Info
Pain, Shock, Anger, Love Mix At Memorial Service
Car Dealerships Called For Help In Pan Manhunt
Pan Knew Murder Victim’s Fiancee; North Haven Chief Defends Letting Him Go; $5K Reward Posted
MIT AI Researcher Sought For Questioning In Yale Graduate Student’s Murder
Vigil Call:“All Lives Are Sacred”
Murder Cut Short Romance Nurtured In Nature
Murdered Student May Have Been“Targeted”