Hinckley no longer a threat, says hospital

THE man who shot President Reagan no longer poses a danger to himself or others, a hospital psychiatrist testified yesterday.

Paul Montalbano, pretrial chief of forensic services at St Elizabeth’s Hospital, said John Hinckley Jr is ready to begin limited, unsupervised trips to see his parents under a gradual programme with strict conditions to minimise risk.

“I think it is important that the outings be part of a risk reduction strategy,” Montalbano said. “I believe that successful visits can actually make him less dangerous.”

District Judge Paul Friedman indicated last week he is prepared to let Hinckley make the trips, but he first wanted to hear testimony from officials at St Elizabeth’s, where Hinckley has lived for the past 22 years.

Hinckley, 48, has been a patient there since he was acquitted by reason of insanity of the shooting of Reagan and three others outside a Washington hotel in March 1981. Hinckley said he shot the president to impress actor Jodie Foster.

Montalbano testified during the fourth and final day of a hearing on Hinckley’s request to make the unsupervised visits.

Hospital officials submitted a letter to Friedman late on Tuesday, outlining a three-phase plan for Hinckley to make the unsupervised outings. Under the first phase, Hinckley would make two local day visits to see his parents. The second and third phases would allow him to stay overnight, with the third-phase visits lasting a few hours longer.

Hinckley’s bid to make the visits got a boost last week from testimony by two psychiatrists for the US government. They said his request should be approved The psychiatrists agreed Hinckley should be able to see his parents without an escort as long as he remained in the Washington area, security procedures were put in place and his parents agreed to monitor him closely. They also said Hinckley’s parents should provide feedback to the medical staff treating him and suggested hospital administrators review each trip.

But Friedman was concerned that he had not heard the hospital staff testify. He said the only word from the hospital came last August in a written response to Hinckley’s request for 10 unsupervised visits with his parents at their home near Williamsburg, Virginia. The hospital agreed Hinckley should be allowed some unescorted trips

The judge said he did not know if hospital officials had changed their opinions, or whether they would agree to the more stringent conditions the government asked him to impose.

Under a 1999 federal appeals court ruling, Hinckley has been able to take supervised day trips off hospital grounds. Since then, he has taken dozens of trips with his parents in the Washington area.

The Reagan family and the government oppose Hinckley’s latest request.