Decision Weeks Away On Pang Extradition

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice recommended today that Martin Pang should be returned to Seattle to face murder charges in an arson fire that killed four firefighters, the King County prosecutor’s office said.

However, another judge on the eleven-member court asked for more time to review the case, meaning a final decision could be several weeks away, prosecutor’s office spokesman Dan Donohoe said.

The justice who recommended extradition with no restrictions is the “reporting justice” who is overseeing the case for the panel, Donohoe said.

Pang is charged with arson and murder in the fire last January that destroyed his parents’ frozen-food business. The firefighters were killed when the floor collapsed.

If convicted, Pang could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

Lawyers for Pang are trying to use Brazilian law to limit the amount of prison time he could face. In Brazil, an unintentional death caused by an arson fire would generate a charge of manslaughter, not murder.