Trial testimony resumes Monday in Modesto restaurant slaying

A trial for a man accused of bludgeoning his boss with a meat cleaver is expected to resume Monday with testimony from a Cantonese language interpreter and possibly the defendant himself.

Zhi Jian Mei, 33, is on trial. He is charged with murder and robbery in the death of Wing Ming Chan, 47, of Modesto. Chan’s death occurred sometime after 9 p.m. May 4, 2011, at his restaurant, China Gourmet, in Century Center at Oakdale Road and Orangeburg Avenue.

There was no testimony in the trial Friday because a juror was feeling ill. On Monday, the defense plans to call a Cantonese interpreter to the witness stand. She reviewed a video recording of Mei in a four-hour police interrogation.

The qualifications of the translator Modesto police used have come under scrutiny by the defense. FBI agent Kenneth Tam provided the translation and said Mei understood about 95 percent of what he translated. The Police Department at the time did not have a Cantonese interpreter.

Mei has told police he ran from his boss into the kitchen, where he grabbed the meat cleaver. Chan then retreated, before Mei and his boss then wrestled over the meat cleaver. The defendant has said he was scared and beat Chan until he died.

Two days after Mei gave his account to police, he told a nurse he had a blackout during the incident and didn’t remember about 90 percent of what happened with Chan in the restaurant that night.

Martin Blinder, a forensic psychiatrist hired by the defense, interviewed Mei and reviewed his case, along with the video of detectives questioning Mei not long after Chan’s body was discovered.

Blinder testified Thursday that Mei’s experience that night is consistent with a “dissociative or fugue state,” one of nine basic homicide categories.

He explained for the jury that the fugue state is when an incident causes the part of brain responsible for executive functions to shut down, but the body’s motor skills remain operational. Blinder said it’s like sleepwalking.

Blinder is best known for his testimony in the 1979 trial of San Francisco Supervisor Dan White, who gunned down San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978. Blinder testified that a junk food diet of Twinkies contributed to White’s erratic behavior. White was convicted of manslaughter instead of murder.

The forensic psychiatrist on Thursday told the jury that the term “Twinkie defense” used in news reports about the White case misrepresents his testimony. Blinder said White’s junk food diet was just one of several factors that led to his violent behavior.

In Mei’s case, Blinder described the defendant as a man not normally aggressive. He said Mei told him he liked Chan and was appreciative of his boss loaning him money without charging interest. Mei told Blinder he’d always pay back the loans.

The night of Chan’s death, Mei waited until after business hours to speak to Chan. He told Chan he was leaving his job at China Gourmet to work for his mother at another restaurant, for similar pay but better hours and less stress. The defendant told Blinder that Chan responded with anger.

A shoving match ensued, before Chan cut Mei’s right shoulder with a small knife, according to Mei. The defendant told Blinder that Chan chased him into the kitchen, where Mei grabbed the meat cleaver. They struggled. “At this point, his memory essentially fades,” Blinder testified.

The psychiatrist said Mei’s next recollection is driving up to his home. During cross-examination, Blinder said it’s common for defendants to claim they suffered a blackout and temporary amnesia.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Trial testimony resumes Monday in Modesto restaurant slaying."