Man who shot Reagan wins overnight visiting rights

A judge has relaxed restrictions on John Hinckley, the man who shot former US president Ronald Reagan, to allow him his first overnight visits outside the Washington area in almost 25 years.

He was given tentative permission to spend 25 nights in separate visits with his parents at their home 200 miles away in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Hinckley, who seriously wounded Reagan two months after his inauguration in 1981, had been permitted to leave St Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, where he is classified insane, for outings around the nation’s capital. He wanted to make longer trips and travel outside the area to his parents’ community in south-eastern Virginia.

US District Judge Paul Friedman ruled Hinckley could be allowed initially three three-night visits and later another four four-night visits. It was uncertain when Hinckley would make the visits.

The US Justice Department could appeal against the decision. Justice spokesman John Nowacki said the order was being reviewed.

Friedman said Hinckley “is not permitted to leave one or both parents’ supervision at any time during the course of the conditional release”, except when the hospital deemed it necessary.

The government had opposed Hinckley’s requests to visit Williamsburg, a three-hour drive from the forensic hospital where he has been held since 1982.

When Hinckley shot Reagan and three other people in 1981 as the president emerged from a hotel, he was suffering from major depression and a psychotic disorder that led to an obsession with actress Jodie Foster.

Hinckley, found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982, said he shot Reagan to impress Foster. His doctors have said his depression and psychosis are in full remission.

Since last year, Hinckley has been allowed occasional overnight visits with his parents within a 50-mile radius of the hospital.

Friedman ordered that during the visits to the gated community where his parents live, Hinckley was not to spend more than 90 minutes away from their supervision. The hospital must assess the success of each visit before a subsequent visit can be allowed, according to the order.

The hospital also must submit itineraries to the court and to Hinckley’s and the government’s lawyers, along with a schedule and goal, for each of the initial three-da visits. The court is to decide later whether it will allow Hinckley to make the longer visits.

Hinckley will have to meet a psychiatrist at least once during each visit and check in daily by phone with the hospital, Friedman directed. Hinckley is taking Risperdal, an anti-psychotic drug.

He also will be allowed supervised used of the internet. However, any attempt to contact the media will be considered a breach of his conditional release, as will be any contact with Leslie DeVeau, a former girlfriend of 22 years and ex-patient at the hospital, according to the ruling.

The goal of the visits was to allow Hinckley to be acclimated to his parents’ community and relearn skills, including gardening, cooking and taking out the rubbish, Friedman wrote in his opinion.

The judge rejected a proposal from the hospital that Hinckley be allowed to get a driving licence and seek work and training, saying such activities were “premature at this time”.