Daily Times

WASHINGTON: John Hinckley, who tried to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan 35 years ago, is to be freed from a psychiatric hospital to live full-time with his mother, a federal judge ordered on Wednesday.

Hinckley, who was declared not guilty of the attempted assassination by reason of insanity, said that after shooting Reagan outside a Washington hotel, he wanted to kill Reagan to impress the actor Jodie Foster, with whom he became obsessed after viewing the film ‘Taxi Driver’.

The court order places dozens of detailed conditions on Hinckley’s “full-time convalescent leave” from St Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, including a ban on contact with Foster but said they can be phased out after a year to 18 months, if he continues to make progress.

US Judge Paul Friedman wrote that Hinckley, aged 61, no longer poses a threat to himself or others. He will be freed as soon as August 5 to live with his 90-year-old mother in her gated community in Williamsburg, Virginia. The attack badly wounded three other men, including Reagan said Press Secretary James Brady.

Following a two-month trial in 1982, a federal jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity. The widely criticised verdict led many states to tighten the laws on insanity defenses. Since the 1990s, Hinckley has been permitted gradually longer supervised home visits with his mother, lately lasting up to 17 days.

Secret Service agents have tracked him during each such foray. Members of Reagan’s family have consistently opposed Hinckley’s release. Daughter Patti Reagan Davis wrote on her website in 2015 that “I hope the doctors are right when they say that John Hinckley isn’t a danger to anyone, but something tells me that they are wrong.”

One thing troubling her, she said, was that while at the hospital, Hinckley had written letters to mass murderers ‘Ted Bundy’ and ‘Charles Manson’. But Hinckley’s attorney Barry Levine has argued since 2003 that evaluations by the hospital’s officials showed that he no longer posed any threat.

The attempt on Reagan’s life sparked intense debate over gun violence and the treatment of the mentally ill. Brady, though left paralysed, became a leading gun-control advocate. A medical examiner attributed Brady’s death in 2014 to the injuries received 33 years earlier but no additional charges were filed against Hinckley.

The 1981 attack also badly wounded US Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy and local police officer Thomas Delahanty. The conditions on Hinckley’s release include a ban on contact with survivors of any of the victims, as well as with Foster.

Hinckley must remain within 50 miles of his mother’s home and cannot travel to any area where a current or former president, vice president or member of Congress is known to be. He cannot post any writings or memorabilia on the internet or display them in person without authorisation.