Washingtonpost.com:

Monday’s death of President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary James S. Brady has been ruled a homicide resulting from the gunshot wound he suffered in the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981, more than three decades ago.

The ruling was made by the medical examiner’s office in Virginia, where Brady, 73, died in an Alexandria retirement community, and was announced Friday by Gwendolyn Crump, the D.C. police department’s chief spokeswoman.

There was no immediate word on whether the shooter, John W. Hinckley Jr., who has been treated at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital since his trial, could face new criminal charges. Hinckley, 59, was found not guilty by reason of insanity after he shot Reagan and three others on March 30, 1981.

But the decision to pronounce Brady’s death a homicide 33 years after he was wounded outside the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Avenue NW raises questions about whether prosecutors can, and will, try to get around double jeopardy — the legal concept that protects a person from being tried twice for the same crime — and pursue a murder charge.

Isn’t charging John Hinckley with murder really overkill?   Why on earth should Hinckley be charged with murder some 30 years after the fact?  He has been incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital for over three decades.  He was found not guilty by reason of insanity at the time.  What are prosecutors hoping?  He will be less insane?  More insane?  Even if he had been charged and convicted of murder, he might be eligible for freedom after 3o years.

Suggestion:  Leave it alone.  Recharging Hinckley just costs the taxpayer more money with very little end result.   It seems to me that the medical examiner was acting out of political motivation.  Had Hinckley shot anyone else, would the ME really declare a death  a homicide  after 30 some years?  Probably not.

17 Thoughts to “James Brady death ruled a homicide”

  1. punchak

    Your spell check must be off. Please, correct headline!
    I just sat there agape when I saw the word “homOcide”.

    1. Thanks. Spell check doesn’t work in headlines, apparently.

      I hope I haven’t started a rumor.

  2. Cargosquid

    This will be used as fund raising for the Brady Campaign.

  3. blue

    Hinkley has had 33 years more on earth than he deserved. Continual efforts to make the case, as you have, that he should be freed, presents a real challenge to the legal community and to the nation. If a wound received in an attempted murder results in murder, should there be a statute of limitations for the impact of that wound?

    1. Don’t be an aH. I never once said he should be freed.

      Trying some one for murder 33 years after the fact when the person who survived just died is really expensive and ridiculous.

  4. Confused

    There is, as a rule, no statute of limitations for murder.

    1. What good would it really do?

  5. David Lentz

    My question is as James Brady was shot in the District of Columbia but died in the Commonwealth of Virginia, who has jurisdiction, DC or Virginia? Hinkley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a federal court. If Hinkley were tried for murder by Virginia, I don’t think the Commonwealth would be bound by the previous federal ruling.

    While we can’t put Hinkley were he belongs, until such time as the Lord calls him, we can put an end to spending living with his mother for over half the time.

    1. Welcome, David You ask some thought provoking questions.

      Anyone? I am not sure why
      Virginia would have jurisdiction.

  6. Ed Myers

    This sounds like it is being set up to allow prosecution for political grandstanding.

    I’m skeptical of the murder charge if it took 33 years and the person died at age 73. This could get out of hand. If I was in a car accident and injured myself chronically, does the state get to prosecute for murder when I die if there was a hint of connection between the injury and ultimate death. Every death is based somewhat on the injuries accrued over a lifetime.

    I think there needs to be a statute of limitations between the date of injury and death. Seven years sounds about right. The no statute of limitations should apply only when murderers escape prosecution because they were identified but couldn’t be found immediately. I’m leery about prosecutions for a long-ago murder that is delayed for many years after the fact; innocent defendants may no longer be able to produce the facts or witnesses to clear their name and the prosecution can railroad people in the name of clearing a cold case.

    We had a long-ago cold case cleared in Loudoun County where the child murder was recently “solved” by saying a person who had committed suicide after being questioned about the case was the perp.

    1. There is just something about being able to dredge up a murder case after 33 years that reeks of politics. It isn’t like Hinckley is a free man.

      I think you can say that many things contribute to a little earlier death. After 33, that is hardly a homicide. To say it is is simply gaming the system.

  7. Cargosquid

    @Ed Myers
    This sounds like it is being set up to allow prosecution for political grandstanding.
    Satan needs a parka.

    You and I agree.

    1. Snicker. Satan gonna need more than a parka on this one. It looks like I am agreeing also.

  8. Cargosquid

    @Moon-howler
    Because they need the money.

    Bloomberg isn’t sending any money their way. He wants to be top dog.

    1. Its a stupid way to raise money if you ask me.

      I think the entire homicide charge is absurd.

  9. Lyssa

    I figure it means he won’t get out. Ever.

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