WASHINGTON _ A federal judge on Wednesday ordered John Hinckley Jr. to be freed, with restrictions, from a mental institution where the would-be assassin has been treated for the past three decades since being found not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting President Ronald Reagan and three other men.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul F. Friedman was not a surprise to those who have followed a series of hearings over the years that delved into the mental state of Hinckley, 61, and the saga of his treatment at St. Elizabeths Hospital.
Hinckley has already spent many months' worth of time outside the hospital's gates, having completed about 80 unsupervised visits, the most recent of which have lasted 17 days, to his mother's home in Williamsburg, Va., about 115 miles southeast of Washington.
In ordering Hinckley released with a lengthy set of conditions, Friedman wrote that the presidential assailant no longer posed a threat to himself or others, noting that his psychotic disorder and major depression have been in remission for more than 20 years. Hinckley has displayed "no symptoms of active mental illness, exhibited no violent behavior, shown no interest in weapons," nor exhibited any signs of being suicidal, Friedman wrote.
The release came with a variety of conditions and restrictions that, if met, could ultimately lead Hinckley to be removed from court supervision for the first time since he shot and nearly killed Reagan, Press Secretary Jim Brady, Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy and D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty outside the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981.
The order comes as many of the major players in that day's drama have recently died, including First Lady Nancy Reagan, Brady and his wife, Sarah, as well as Jerry Parr, the Secret Service agent credited with saving Reagan's life.
Hinckley sought to kill Reagan after developing an obsession with the movie actress Jodie Foster and believing that assassinating a president would impress her.
Federal prosecutors, who had battled Hinckley's lawyers over whether he should be released and the conditions of his visits home, said they were reviewing the order and declined to comment.
