Hinckley freed for day trips

U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman yesterday freed John Hinckley Jr., the man who shot President Reagan, for unsupervised trips from the mental hospital where he has been confined for more than two decades.

Judge Friedman granted the trips over the objections of the U.S. government and the family of the former president.

Hinckley, 48, will be allowed to leave St. Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast for day trips without an escort. He could take his first trip as early as two weeks from today.

Judge Friedman said he “concludes that it would not be legally sound to deny all aspects of the hospital’s request for conditional, time-limited outings under the supervision of parents.” The evidence, he said, “weighs so heavily in finding that Mr. Hinckley will not be a danger to himself or others.”

The Reagan family disagreed in a statement issued late yesterday.

“Although the judge limited Mr. Hinckley’s travel to the Washington, D.C., area,” the family said, “we continue to fear for the safety of the general public. Our thoughts are with all of Mr. Hinckley’s victims today, especially Jim Brady and his family, as they must continue to live with the tragic consequences of the assassination attempt.”

U.S. Attorney for the District Roscoe C. Howard denounced Judge Friedman’s decision.

“We opposed Hinckley’s release because we remain concerned about Mr. Hinckley’s current dangerousness for the reasons stated in our arguments before the court,” he said.

Mr. Brady, who was President Reagan’s press secretary, was gravely wounded by Hinckley and is disabled. Mrs. Brady opposed Hinckley’s petition for the unsupervised trips. So did the U.S. government, whose lawyers noted that Hinckley, who has written to serial killers while at St. Elizabeths, had boasted that he had “fooled” his doctors on earlier occasions.

Judge Friedman placed several restrictions on Hinckley’s trips. Initially, he will be allowed to leave the hospital for six day trips with his parents on Saturdays or Sundays, to stay within a 50-mile radius of the District. If he returns and does not violate the law, he will be allowed two 32-hour overnight visits, also within a 50-mile radius of the District.

Hinckley will be supervised by his parents, JoAnn and John “Jack” W. Hinckley, and each visit will be evaluated by Hinckley’s treatment team before the next one is granted.

The judge denied a third phase request for overnight visits to the Hinckley home in Williamsburg, Va., which is outside the 50-mile limit.

Hinckley has been at St. Elizabeths since 1982, when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity for wounding Mr. Reagan, Mr. Brady, Metropolitan Police Officer Thomas K. Delahanty and Secret Service Agent Timothy J. McCarthy on March 30, 1981, at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Connecticut Avenue NW. He said he shot the president to impress movie actress Jodie Foster, whom he did not know and had never met.

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