Despite these setbacks, Hunt finally graduated from Harvard as a commuting student in 1969, a full eight years after he entered.

According to his lawyer’s motion, on the day of his arrest, Hunt suffered a paranoid episode at work brought on by an incident there. He left work, but while in his car decided he needed to return. “While doing so, he became overwhelmed by terror, which resulted in the acts for which he is now charged,” the motion reads. “Present treatment addresses the incident and the resulting acts and a reoccurrence is highly unlikely.”

The motion goes on to note that Hunt had no criminal record, no substance abuse history and “extremely high moral standards of self-conduct.”

Hunt explains today without elaborating further that he “was under a lot of stress at the time.” He did note in his reunion report in 2000 that he and his wife were separated and probably divorcing.

It is unclear from court records how long Hunt remained in the hospital following his arrest, and he says he doesn’t remember the precise timeline. On Nov. 16, about three weeks after the incident, there is an entry in the docket saying that a motion to allow him to be escorted to court by his lawyer on the day of his discharge had been granted, and the docket notes that on Nov. 22, Hunt was released from court on his own recognizance.

Hunt says that he did not return to work at OCS for the entire time the criminal charges were pending nor for the rest of the school year.

The next and final development in the case came at a pre-trial hearing on January 9, 2001. Prosecutors amended the most serious count against Hunt—armed assault with the attempt to murder, which can carry a 5 to 20-year prison sentence—to assault and battery on a police officer, which is punishable with up to a two-and-a-half-year jail term.

Meanwhile, Hunt formally admitted to sufficient facts to warrant a guilty finding. The court responded by continuing the case without a formal verdict for ten months, until October of 2001, when the charges were dismissed on recommendation of the probate department. Hunt was ordered to continue counseling and medications as directed by his physician.

The decision meant that Hunt would be spared the guilty verdict that would have caused him further difficultly in regaining his job.

According to Hunt, the Commonwealth knew that the charge of assault with attempt to murder was “trumped up.”

“I think the charge may have been one they give to African-Americans when they are arrested and resist arrest,” Hunt said in an interview last week. Asked about police claims that he grabbed for the officer’s gun, he said, “There was certainly no attempt at murdering a police officer.”

With the criminal charges against him resolved, Hunt said his next step was to convince Harvard that he was fit to return.

“I talked to various people on returning to Harvard, sort of got a clean bill of health,” he said.

Harvard officials would not comment on what hurdles Hunt had to overcome or whether the criterion for deciding whether to retain someone after a criminal case varies based on the employee’s position.

According to Hunt, he was allowed to return to Harvard some time after Commencement of 2001, and he has fulfilled his duties with no further incident in the time since.