Would-be assassin John W. Hinckley jr is not a threat to society and can continue leaving a Washington mental hospital to visit his parents, a federal judge said.Hinckley, who said he shot President Ronald Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982. He was reported to be suffering from depression and a psychotic disorder that led to an obsession with Foster.Last year, a federal judge approved Hinckley’s request to leave St Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington for seven extended visits with his parents in Virginia. Hinckley is now down to his last visit and he has asked a federal judge on August 1 to extend that order.Prosecutors opposed the request, saying they needed to review Hinckley’s medical records. But in an August 18 ruling released yesterday US district judge Paul L. Friedman said Hinckley can continue making four-night trips to his parents’ home.Friedman did not cap the number of those visits and said they could continue at least until a hearing later in November on whether Hinckley’s visitation programme should be made more lenient. When away from hospital grounds, Hinckley is legally under his parents’ supervision, must continue taking psychotropic medication and is required to meet regularly with a psychiatrist.“Mr Hinckley does not present a danger to himself or others if permitted to make visits to his parents’ home under the conditions set forth,” Friedman wrote.Hinckley shot Reagan, press secretary James Brady, a secret service agent and a Washington policeman in March 1981 as the President emerged from a downtown hotel in Washington DC.
