Judge lets Reagan assailant make out-of-town visits
Posted on: Friday, 30 December 2005, 19:32 CST
By Joanne Morrison
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Hinckley Jr., who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, will be allowed to make seven overnight visits to his parents' home outside of the Washington area.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman on Friday approved part of a proposal by St. Elizabeths Hospital -- where Hinckley resides and is treated -- for a series of three- and four-day visits to his parents' house in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The court's ruling comes two years after the judge approved local visits away from the hospital with his parents.
"One would hope that in the upcoming visits to his parents' home, Mr. Hinckley will have the opportunity to begin to develop normal, healthy and appropriate friendships with both men and women that will withstand the scrutiny necessarily given to them by the psychiatrists and psychologists treating him," Friedman wrote in his opinion.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting of Reagan and three other people. He was sent to the hospital in 1982 and has been diagnosed with major depression, psychotic and narcissistic personality disorders.
The judge put a series of conditions on Hinckley's out-of-town visits, ruling Hinckley, 50, cannot leave his parents' supervision, that they must make telephone contact with the hospital at least once a day during each outing and that he have no contact with his former girlfriend, Leslie DeVeau.
"The government argued strenuously that it was not certain how Mr. Hinckley was handling the end of his romantic relationship with Ms. DeVeau and that his potentially adverse reaction was a major risk factor in a relapse of his mental illnesses," Friedman wrote.
Hinckley will be allowed three initial three-day visits to his parents' home, with the success of each outing assessed by the hospital before a subsequent visit is allowed. The hospital can then permit up to four visits lasting four days.
The judge warned that if there were any signs of deterioration in Hinckley's mental condition, he would be returned to the hospital. And if Hinckley doesn't abide by the court's conditions, his parent-supervised trips will stop, the judge said.
Source: REUTERS
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