Pang Confession Ruled Usable

Fri., June 20, 1997

From Staff And Wire Reports

A King County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that a confession by Martin Pang, charged in a fatal 1995 warehouse fire, can be used against him at trial.

“The state, I find, has sustained its burden of proving that the statements Mr. Pang made to the FBI … are constitutionally valid and are admissible at trial,” Judge Larry Jordan wrote in a 20-page decision.

Pang is charged with arson and four counts of murder in the fire that destroyed his parents’ frozen food warehouse. Four firefighters died in the blaze.

Pang’s defense lawyers had attempted to suppress the statements Pang made to the FBI after his arrest in Brazil on March 16, 1995. The FBI said the agents were present to help Brazilian police identify Pang, who fled Seattle after the fire.

“… Mr. Pang was advised of his Miranda rights and waived them orally and in writing, and the waiver was, as I’ve stated, knowing, voluntary and intelligent,” Jordan wrote.

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