Professor: High court review of accused killer’s bail a first in Connecticut
NEW HAVEN — The state Supreme Court’s decision to review the $20 million bail given to Qinxuan Pan, the man accused of the slaying of Yale graduate student Kevin Jiang, is unprecedented in state history, according to a University of New Haven professor and former state official.
Michael Lawlor, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven and former undersecretary for criminal justice in the administration of then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said the June 29 order was the first time the court had required a judge to articulate reasoning for a bail amount or hold a hearing to establish the evidence on which it was based.
Lawlor said the Pan case could prompt residents and officials to consider whether pretrial detention without bail should be allowed for certain cases in Connecticut, as it is at the federal level and some other states, such as New Jersey, which changed from monetary bail to using a risk assessment system after a 2016 constitutional amendment.
“What do you do with a guy you think is a danger to the community and a very likely flight risk (as a judge)?” Lawlor said. “That’s a very good question.”
William Gerace, Pan’s attorney, filed the motion for Pan’s bail to be reviewed in June. During the case, he has said the $20 millionis too high too be reasonable — an amount “tantamount to no bond at all.”
In response to Gerace’s motion, the state Supreme Court ordered Judge Brian Fischer to articulate his reasoning for the bail amount or hold a hearing to establish the evidence on which he based it.
Fischer did so by the July 15 deadline, citing Pan’s flight from the area in February after the killing, which prompted a nationwide manhunt; the slaying itself; Pan’s financial resources; his use of a
false name; connection to China; and the likelihood that he would flee the country, among other factors.
Gerace said he was pleased the court had taken up a novel matter by issuing the order. He said he had filed his motion at the appellate level; court justices decided to consider it on their own.
“I’m hoping for something good,” said Gerace. “The fact that they kicked it back to Judge Fischer with such (stark) language gives me optimism.”
State requirement
Lawlor said the state constitution requires that every defendant not charged with a capital offense be given bail, and the amount of that bail not be excessive.
What bail amount is reasonable, Lawlor said, is up to the judge, although the prosecution, defense and a state-employed bail commissioner offer recommendations.
But at the federal level, a judge
can order pretrial detention without bail if they believe a defendant is a severe flight risk or danger to the community, Lawlor said.
“This is usually very frequently used ... to hold people that are clearly dangerous,” Lawlor said. “Because that’s not an option in Connecticut, it’s very clear that judges and prosecutors use the workaround of asking for superhigh bond amounts.”
Pan’s $20 million bail, he said, was an extreme example.
Both Lawlor and Bill Carbone, a senior lecturer at the University of New Haven and former executive director of the Court Support Services Division of Connecticut’s judicial branch, said it was the highest they had ever heard about in the state.
William Dunlap, a law professor at Quinnipiac University, also said Pan’s $20 million bail was the highest he had heard of in Connecticut, and likely a record. Given that, he said it was likely the right move to
have Judge Fischer justify the decision.
“That doesn’t mean it was, per se, wrong, but it was bond to attract attention,” said Dunlap. “But the defendant in this case is certainly entitled to an explanation and potentially a hearing.”
No bail?
Dunlap said that, if the allegation’s in Fischer’s reasoning were true, the $20 million bail may well be justified, as Pan had seemingly done some planning toward fleeing.
Gerace also has said he believes the bail amount is a record. The state does not track such information, according to Rhonda Hebert, a spokeswoman for the judicial branch.
Lawlor said he believed individual defendants deemed dangerous should be held without bail,while everyone else should be released on a promise to appear.
Under the current system, some likely dangerous people are able to post bail and return to their communities, he said.
Carbone, however, said he believed the current system, in the vast majority of cases, worked appropriately.
He said bail commissioners, in offering their recommendations, take into account an arrested individual’s previous record and community ties, including their job and proximity to family.
In general, he said he trusted a court’s judgment in setting bail for serious cases.
Dunlap said the idea of holding people without bail is, in general, unusual. But it could be justified in certain circumstances, such as when someone is a danger to witnesses, he said.
He noted that Connecticut engaged in bail reform in 2017, including eliminating money bail for misdemeanors in many cases – and while that’s the other end of the spectrum, the state had demonstrated attentiveness to the issue.
Gerace called for the state to set a “reasonable bond” in Pan’s case. He said would have preferred that Fischer schedule a hearing, allowing him to contest a series of Fischer’s points for setting the $20 million bail.
He said, among others, the court’s statements about Jiang’s financial resources, the strength of his ties to Shanghai and the likelihood of him fleeing the country were unfounded.
Fischer also said in the document he submitted to the high court that Pan was arrested in an apartment he was renting in Montgomery under the false name “Henry Choi.” At the time, he was in possession of $19,000 cash, seven cellphones, seven SIM cards and his father’s passport, Fischer wrote.
Jiang, a student at the Yale School of the Environment, was killed Feb. 6. His body was found around 8:30 p.m. on Lawrence Street in New Haven. He was shot multiple times, and found “in the middle of the road,” Fischer noted.
Pan was not arrested until May 13 in Montgomery, Ala., following a search by U.S. marshals and others.
Pan is next scheduled to appear in court July 28.