Assisted-Dying Blog

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The last of the four criminal cases in Phoenix has been resolved without a trial.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict during the trial last April of Final Exit Network volunteer exit guide Frankin R. Langsner, of Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix. A retrial had been scheduled to take place in August. Instead, however, the State gave Langsner the opportunity to plead “guilty” to a minor charge. He entered the negotiated guilty plea in June.
The Phoenix police had charged Langsner, 86, with two serious felonies, “manslaughter” by aiding in a suicide and “conspiracy” to commit manslaughter, in connection with the self-deliverance of Jana Van Voorhis, 58, at her Phoenix home on April 12, 2007.
In the plea-bargain, the Maricopa County prosecutor’s office agreed to let Langsner plead guilty to one count of “endangerment,” and dropped the serious charges. “Endangerment” is a minimal felony, but under the terms of the plea agreement, when Langsner successfully completes one year of probation, the charge will be entered on his permanent record as a misdemeanor.
“The State made Frank an offer he couldn’t resist,” said Langsner’s attorney, Antonio Bustamante. “He couldn’t run the risk, even a slight risk, of being convicted of a serious felony, when the State offered to let him cop a plea to a minor charge, with no risk of a prison sentence.
“The State of Arizona had invested massive resources in the investigation and prosecution of this case, as if the crimes were extremely serious,” Bustamante added. “The State’s plea offer shows this case was not very serious after all. Frank is a good and compassionate man who did what he thought was right as a volunteer for Final Exit Network, and he still believes it was right.”
Langsner went on trial in April along with Final Exit Network’s former medical director, Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, 83, of Baltimore, who was charged with only one count — conspiracy to commit manslaughter. After a two-week trial, the jury found Dr. Egbert not guilty. The jury deadlocked 7-1 in favor of finding Langsner not guilty of the conspiracy charge. On the charge of manslaughter, four jurors voted to convict, three to acquit, and one juror could not reach a decision.

Tags: Assisted Suicide, assisted suicide laws, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, euthanasia and assisted death, Final Exit Network, hemlock society, right to die, Self-Deliverance, suicide