Attorney Pattis and defendant Pan in court Tuesday.
A state judge signed off on a last-minute request by Qinxuan Pan’s criminal defense attorney to order a “competency exam” for his client — on the grounds that the former MIT artificial intelligence researcher may not be mentally fit to stand trial on charges of murdering Yale grad student Kevin Jiang.
State Superior Court Judge Jon Alander handed down that order Tuesday morning at the end of a 15-minute hearing held in Courtroom 5A at the state courthouse at 235 Church St.
Alander granted attorney Norm Pattis’s motion for a competency examination to determine whether or not Pan is of sound enough mind to be tried for the one felony count of murder he’s been charged with.
The judge’s order means that Pan must now be evaluated by a court- or state-appointed psychiatrist in advance of a competency hearing on Nov. 7. At that time, Alander will hear evidence and rule on whether or not Pan is legally “competent” for the criminal case to continue.
Judge Alander.
“It’s incumbent upon me to order a competency exam under state statute 54 – 56d,” Alander said at the end of Tuesday’s brief hearing. “I will do that.”
The state judge’s decision marked the latest turn in Pan’s criminal case, which has been delayed again and again and again and again over the past year as Pattis and defense co-counsel Kevin Smith have requested more time to review evolving evidence. They’ve also been waiting on the state Supreme Court to rule on whether or not to keep Pan’s bond at $20 million.
Tuesday’s hearing took place 19 months to the day after Pan allegedly shot and killed 26-year-old Yale grad student Kevin Jiang near Jiang’s fiancee’s apartment on Lawrence Street in East Rock on Feb. 6, 2021. U.S. Marshals later arrested Pan on May 13 of that year in Montgomery, Ala., after a three-month, nationwide manhunt.
Click here, here, and here to read more about the state law around competency examinations for defendants facing criminal trials.
Pattis: "He's A Communicative Challenge"
Pattis.
Tuesday’s court hearing was supposed to be Pan’s so-called “probable cause hearing,” at which state prosecutors and the defense attorneys would make their case to the judge as to whether or not the state’s case against Pan was strong enough to move ahead to a trial.
With that expectation, the public seating area of the courtroom was filled with nearly 20 friends and family members of Jiang. Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Stacey Miranda told the court that she had subpoenaed witnesses and was prepared to present relevant evidence and testimony in regards to the expected probable cause hearing.
But after a 15-minute private discussion among prosecutors, defense attorneys, and Alander in the judge’s chambers, Pattis made clear during the public portion of the meeting that he had a different motion to present in court on Tuesday.
That was his motion for a competency examination.
He explained that a defendant in a criminal trial is deemed not competent if he is unable to understand the nature of the charges against him, or if he’s unable to assist in his own defense.
Pattis said, based on his and Smith’s meetings and conversations with Pan over the past several months, he believes that Pan clearly understands the charges the state has brought against him.
But, Pattis said, he’s not sure that Pan is “capable of assisting in his own defense.”
Pan.
Based on the evidence that the state has gathered so far, Pattis argued, it’s possible that “a second person was involved” in the shooting that left Jiang dead back in February 2021. He said it’s possible that Pan was there and didn’t pull the trigger. It’s possible he wasn’t there at all.
Pattis said that Pan has given him and Smith some kind of indication that there might indeed have been another person at the scene of the shooting that night.
“This is not an ‘ingenuity of counsel’ defense,” Pattis told the judge. Rather, he does believe that Pan has some information about a potential different shooter.
The problem is, Pattis continued, neither he nor Smith has been able to get that information out of their client.
Pan’s “apparent unwillingness to discuss with us” this matter raises questions about his competency, the defense attorney said. “He’s a communicative challenge. … I can’t get a straight answer.”
State prosecutor Stacey Miranda.
State prosecutor Miranda said that the timing of such a motion for a competency exam was “unfortunate,” given that she had subpoenaed witnesses who traveled from out of state to testify in court on Tuesday. She did not ask the court to turn down the request, however, leaving it to Alander to decide on the merits of Pattis’s request.
Ultimately, the judge granted the defense’s motion, ordered a competency exam, and scheduled a competency hearing for Nov. 7.