NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The state Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on the perhaps unprecedented bond set for a man accused of murdering a Yale graduate student in February. The high court is likely to render a decision by Thursday.
Qinxuan Pan, 30, was arrested in May in Alabama with seven cell phones, $19,000 in cash, and his father's passport.
When he was charged with the murder of Kevin Jiang, 26, Pan's bond was extraordinary. That's how the CT Supreme Court factors in.
Attorney William Gerace filed a motion with the Connecticut Supreme Court contending the $20 million bond that Pan is facing is tantamount to having no opportunity to post bond at all
"And in Connecticut, you must have a bond that’s reasonable, Gerace said. "So, the judge, the onus is now on Judge (Brian) Fisher to explain why. I’m hoping the Supreme Court will give us some relief."
Gerace is referring to New Haven Superior Court Judge Brian Fischer, who set Pan's bond. The Connecticut Supreme Court has until Thursday to either rule on the bond motion itself or kicks it back to Fischer.
"Based upon that information, this court feels that it’s premature for a bond argument in this court, at this time," said Judge Gerald Harmon, a supervisory judge for New Haven Superior Court.
So, a bond hearing has been delayed until July 28th.
Pan's parents, who attended his last hearing on June 1, were not in court Tuesday.
"I told them not to come because I anticipated the judge's actions today," said Gerace.
According to the arrest warrant, Pan's parents both traveled with him during the first few days he was on the run. But authorities caught up with the parents and questioned them near the Georgia-South Carolina border five days after the shooting and hours after Pan had been seen in Georgia.
Why were they traveling with him? Pan's attorney claims he has not discussed that with them
Jiang was murdered one week after he proposed to his girlfriend, Zion Perry, who had been friends with Pan the year before.
According to the warrant, Perry said she met Pan while attending various Christian group events on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) when Perry was an undergraduate student and Pan was working on his PH.D.
Perry allegedly told police they talked at those events and she invited Pan to other events to welcome him. She said they never had a romantic or sexual relationship and that they were just friends, but she did get the feeling he was interested in her at that time.
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