Carlos Ghosn Flirted With Hollywood, Then Delivered a Plot Twist

In his off hours, he lived in a Tokyo rental with bare walls and little more than a stair-climbing machine for furniture. Neighbors often saw him shopping for groceries at the local import market or eating croissants at his favorite French cafe around the corner. His daughters visited frequently, and his excursions with them — which took him as far afield as Japan’s ancient capital, Kyoto — became fodder for Japanese reporters.

But the former chief executive, who had once traveled the globe as easily as most people go to the corner market, chafed at the unaccustomed restrictions on his movements, according to people familiar with his thinking.

As conditions on his bail, cameras above his door surveilled his comings and goings. His phone use was restricted, and he was not allowed to use the internet outside his lawyer’s office. And most egregiously, for him, in recent months the court allowed him only two brief phone calls with his wife, while lawyers listened in.

Throughout it all, he remained determined to defend his innocence in court. But his attitude took a dramatic shift on Christmas Day, according to a person familiar with his thinking. A Japanese court had just denied a request by his defense team to spend the holiday with his wife.

Instead, he found himself in a Tokyo courtroom, where his lawyers argued with prosecutors over the details of his upcoming trial.

During the session, Mr. Ghosn learned that the case could be tried in stages, potentially making it drag on for years. This led Mr. Ghosn to assume that the Japanese intended to force him to confess or to hold him indefinitely, the person said.

“When you look at the situation Mr. Ghosn was put in, it seems likely that his decision was driven by a feeling of despair,” said Nobuo Gohara, a former prosecutor who now works as a defense lawyer.