Pang Murder Trial Ruling Appealed Defense Seeks Help From Brazil; He Was Extradited On Arson Charge

Defense attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to review a judge’s ruling that Martin Pang can stand trial for murder in the 1995 warehouse-arson deaths of four firefighters.

If the state court refuses the case, Pang’s lawyers say they will appeal the issue in federal court.

They also have asked the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C., to help them persuade Brazil’s government to protest last week’s ruling by King County Superior Court Judge Larry Jordan.

In a victory for prosecutors, Jordan ruled that Pang can be tried for murder, even though the Brazilian Supreme Court approved his extradition on a charge of arson only.

Jordan said Brazil’s executive branch had effectively waived terms of its extradition treaty with the United States by not responding to repeated requests from U.S. officials for approval to try Pang for murder.

Pang, 41, is charged with setting a 1995 fire that destroyed his parents’ frozen-food warehouse. The firefighters died when a floor collapsed in the burning building.

Pang fled to Brazil, where he was eventually arrested. He was returned to Seattle in March after an extended extradition fight.

In Brazil, arson deaths are not considered murder unless the fire was intended to kill. Prosecutors have said the warehouse fire was set for an insurance payoff, and Brazil’s high court ruled in December 1995 that Pang could be extradited only to face a first-degree arson charge.

King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng enlisted Attorney General Janet Reno and other Clinton administration officials in an unsuccessful bid to get the Brazilian court to reconsider.

Prosecutors then turned to Jordan.

On Tuesday, Pang’s attorneys asked the state’s high court for a discretionary review of Jordan’s ruling, although the court does not usually hear appeals in criminal cases until after trial.

They have 15 days to file a formal motion and a legal brief supporting their contention that Pang cannot be tried for murder. If the court agrees to the review, all proceedings will be put on hold, said defense attorney Tim Dole, an associate of Pang attorney John Henry Browne. The Pang case is now set for trial in February.

If the state court won’t consider the matter, defense attorneys will go to federal court, which has jurisdiction because the case involves international treaties, Dole said.

Attorneys contacted the Brazilian Embassy because “we wanted to find out what the proper protocol was to notify Brazil that its extradition order is being violated in Seattle,” he said.