Wednesday, August 23, 2017
him of both murder and manslaughter, and he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Attorney Conrad O. Seifert successfully argued before the Supreme Court that the conviction was legally inconsistent. The murder charge required that the jury find Chyung acted intentionally, while the manslaughter charge required a finding that he acted with reckless disregard for human life. The high court overturned the conviction and returned the case to the trial court.
Chyung has been unable to post his $3 million bond and is being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield while awaiting his second trial. Heffernan asked Judge Hillary B. Strackbein to reduce Chyung’s bond Tuesday, arguing that he does not represent a flight risk, has no prior convictions and is not a danger to society.
Smith objected, arguing that Chyung already has been convicted of killing Bennett and that he was accused of threatening somebody while free on bond prior to his first trial. Smith said the case against Chyung is stronger based on the information that came out during his first trial.
Judge Strackbein denied the motion for a bond reduction, saying Chyung would have incentive to flee, having already been found guilty of murder and manslaughter, and that she considers him a danger to the community. London Police charged him with murder, first-degree reckless endangerment, illegal discharge of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit and first-degree robbery.
On Tuesday, Senior Assistant Paul J. Narducci extended a plea offer to Lee-Seales, giving him the opportunity to avoid the risk of being sentenced to more than 60 years in prison if convicted by a jury. The plea offer was not disclosed on the record in court, since the victim’s family had not been notified.
In any case, Lee-Seales’ attorney, Sebastian O. DeSantis, said his client is likely to turn down the offer when Lee-Seales returns to court on Sept. 7.
“I’ve relayed the offer that was made by the state,” DeSantis told Judge Hillary B. Strackbein as Lee-Seales stood at his side. “I do expect him to reject it.”
The case likely would be scheduled for trial later this year, at which Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed would preside and a jury of 12 would hear the evidence.
According to New London police, Lee-Seales exited a white SUV at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Grand Street on Dec. 10, 2015, and fired multiple shots toward Olivencia and several others following an earlier encounter on State Pier Road, where LeeSeales allegedly had assaulted and robbed a 17-year-old drug dealer who “disrespected” him.
Upon their arrival at the scene, police had found the 29-year-old Olivencia lying on the front porch of 8 Grand St., losing a large amount of blood and unable to speak about who shot him. He was pronounced dead at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital at 12:43 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2015.
Police said they recovered a cigarette pack containing LeeSeales’ thumbprint at the scene along with other forensic evidence and interviewed witnesses who identified Lee-Seales as the shooter.
He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.