By Pauline Liu

The trial began Tuesday for the Albany, New York man accused of attacking a sushi restaurant owner last May leaving him near death. 

Lucas Healey, 42, was expressionless as he entered Judge Roger McDonough’s courtroom at the Albany County Justice Building. He was handcuffed and in leg chains. He was dressed in a black suit and white shirt. His brown hair was slicked back. He wore eyeglasses.

AsAmNews was the only news crew in the courtroom.

Healey is accused of trying to dine-and-dash at the Shogun restaurant on Madison Avenue on May 29th after running up a bill of over $400. Prosecutors say he was caught on security video punching Su Wen Zheng, 50, in the head causing him to fall back. The video shows him hitting his head against the sidewalk.

Zheng’s family is not attending the trial. When contacted by phone, his wife, Sophia, said she needs to stay home in New York City to care for her husband because the attack has left him with limited mobility and unable to speak. “Lucas’ behavior caused irreversible harm to my husband,” she said. “It’s still unknown whether he can recover. I hope he receives the punishment he deserves.”

Before jury selection began, the judge conducted a hearing to decide the admissibility of recorded conversations Healey had with other inmates. Healey was recorded telling another inmate how his alleged dine-and-dash scheme worked. 

“He was telling another inmate how you can steal food (from a restaurant) by giving them a credit card and then walking out (pretending) to have a cigarette,” said prosecutor Ryan McCarty. The judge allowed the recorded call into evidence. Investigators said the credit card that Healey used only had $50 on it.

Twelve jurors and two alternates were to be selected from a large pool of potential jurors that included many state workers and some firefighters.

Judge McDonough said he was particularly interested in hearing from the first responders. 

“Can they treat the testimony of police officers the same as any other testimony or would it affect their ability to be fair and impartial? ,” Judge McDonough asked.

Zheng’s younger brother, Michael, is expected to be called as a prosecution witness to describe what he saw that night and also discuss Zheng’s slow recovery. \

“He has difficulty moving his right hand and he’s fallen a number of times,” Michael said. The brothers co-own the restaurant. They came to the United States from Fujian province in Southern China about 25 years ago. After years of hard work, the brothers were able to afford to buy the Shogun restaurant in 2019.

Healey could also take the stand. “Mr. Healey is likely to testify but he may not,” said McCarty.

Judge McDonough said he expects the trial to take four days, completing on January 24th.

Zheng’s wife says the restaurant remains open, but she is fearful that Healey might try to retaliate against the staff.

“It casts a serious psychological shadow on us,” she said. She also worries about how to continue to cover her husband’s medical expenses. He is currently receiving speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy. 

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