Suicide

Inearly 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found Ghane
competent tostandtrial. Theproceedings began that September. Ghane’s
attorneys sought to discredit the informant, arguing that he hadtricked
Ghane intomaking thedrawing. Prosecution witnessestestified that Ghane’s
cyanide was enough tohave killed hundreds of people. Thejury deadlocked,
resulting in amistrial. During Ghane’ssecondtrial, in late November of
that year, theprosecutors dropped the informant and the sketchfrom their
case; they emphasized,instead, thetestimonyfrom the hospital
psychiatrist along with Ghane’s ownwords about suicide, and the dangers
that thecyanide posed tofirst responders.Inhisclosing arguments, the
prosecutor returned to Ghane’s suicide attemptitself: that alone, he
argued, was a non-peacefulpurpose. “Theevidence heretoday and the
evidence over thelast fewdayshas beenwhy he wanted to use it,which was
to killhimself,” he said. “Anact ofviolence onhimself that wouldput
others at risk.” Questionsfrom thejury room indicated that theystruggled
withwhether “peacefulpurposes” included suicide, but, on December 1st,
thejuryvoted to convicthim. Abouttwo months after he wassentenced, he
was released to ahalf-wayhouse. Theprosecutor, through a spokesman,
declinedto beinterviewed.Ghanehas exhausted allhisappeals, including
an unsuccessfulpetition tohavehiscase heard by the Supreme Court. One
of Ghane’s attorneys, Justin Johnston, said that he may try to get Ghane’s
convictionset aside with a legaltactic called a writ of error coram
nobis, a kind of legal Hail Mary intended to convince the courts that new
evidenceproves an error wasmade in thetrial. In rare occasions that such
writs are granted, it iswhen a “manifest injustice”has been done. The
ruling andits reference to Ghane’scasenow muddies that plan. Johnston
said in ane-mail, though, that he’s still considering it. “I’m
disappointed that thecomplicated facts of Dr. Ghane’scase were reduced to
aparenthetical that misses themark. Theevidence was not that Dr. Ghane
intended to harm 450 people. He initially intended to harm no one but
himself, andhisdecision to seek help showed that heultimately intended
to harm no one at all,” Johnston wrote.Before the ruling, Ghane described
hislifetoday as “tranquil.” Helives in a retirement home in
Independence. He gathers withhis fellow residents for a morning coffee,
before leaving on the bus tolook forjobs at an employment agency or to go
grocery shopping. A self-admitted newsjunkie, he watches CNN and listens
to radio news in the afternoons, and thenprepares Iranian meals for
dinner. Hetakes in movieswhen he can.The Bondreversal, withitsdamning
parenthetical, reignited Ghane’s anguish. He remainsadamant that he never
sought to harm anyone—withthe exception, possibly, ofhimself—andtold me
that the onlyreason he didn’t want to give uphiscyanide was that he had
suicide on the mind. “I didn’t know going to a hospital and saying that
‘I’m suicidal, please help me,’ is going to get me eight years inprison,”
he said.Photograph by Mareen Fischinger/Getty.