Hinckley’s Lawyers Argue for Unsupervised Visits

A federal judge heard testimony Monday asking that John W. Hinckley Jr., the man who tried to assassinate President Reagan, be permitted to leave the psychiatric hospital where he has been held for 21 years for unsupervised visits with his parents.

“The unanimous opinion of the experts is that he’s not dangerous,” attorney Barry Levine told U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, arguing that Hinckley’s mental illness is largely in remission.

The move is the latest in a series of requests for conditional release filed by Hinckley, 48, since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity of shooting Reagan and three others in front of the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981.

Although federal prosecutors contend Hinckley is still a danger, a team of doctors at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington believe he is ready to begin unsupervised day visits with his family, perhaps as early as Thanksgiving, with overnight stays to follow if all goes well.

The hearing is expected to last as long as three days. If the so-called limited conditional release is granted, it could be a first step toward full freedom.

Hinckley’s history is troubling to many. Before he shot Reagan, he had stalked President Carter, expressed admiration for the Nazi Party and held a bizarre fascination for actress Jodie Foster. The day of the shooting, he left in his hotel room a note addressed to the actress, asking her to consider “this historical deed” an attempt to win her love.

Much of Monday’s testimony came from Sidney Binks, a neuropsychologist who has treated Hinckley at St. Elizabeths for several years. Binks said Hinckley has narcissistic personality disorder, which is not dangerous, and that the depression and psychosis that drove him to an assassination attempt have been in remission for more than a decade.

But prosecutor Robert Chapman, citing incidents from the 1980s, sought to portray Hinckley as deceptive and dangerous. He noted Hinckley’s interest in serial killers that prompted him to try to correspond with Charles Manson and Ted Bundy.

Chapman also said Hinckley tried in 1988 to obtain a caricature of Foster from a California merchant, a move the hospital apparently was unaware of.

Prosecutors suggested Hinckley’s shift in behavior was a calculated attempt to fool his doctors. The hospital withdrew a recommendation that he be released for visits three years ago when prosecutors noted he continued to show an interest in violently themed books and music.

But Binks called the new behavior “healthy and adaptive.” Hinckley, dressed in a blue suit and red tie, his boyish looks little changed from his years in custody, sat quietly and appeared to listen attentively. He is requesting 10 unsupervised visits to start.

Since 1999, Hinckley has been allowed to make trips -- accompanied by hospital staff members -- to bowling alleys, restaurants and movies. His parents, Jack and Jo Ann Hinckley, moved from Colorado to Virginia to be closer to him and visit regularly.

Binks said unsupervised visits would be an appropriate extension of Hinckley’s treatment.

The Secret Service monitors Hinckley and would continue to do so if release was granted. Hinckley’s lawyer said he would not pose a danger under those conditions.

All motions previously filed by Hinckley were withdrawn or denied; one failed after hospital staff members found a journal in which Hinckley acknowledged doing his best “to keep the fools guessing about me. They will never know the true John Hinckley.” That sentiment underscores the concerns of prosecutors who have contended that Hinckley has tricked his doctors into believing he is cured.

But Hinckley’s defenders say he is being unfairly punished because one of his victims was the president.

“The issue for this court is whether rules that apply to all patients apply to him,” attorney Levine said. “Or is he going to be judged not by the law but by the identity of the victims of his crime?”

In an interview broadcast Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Reagan’s son, Ron Reagan Jr., suggested that if Hinckley is no longer insane, he should “just go to prison, and there he can reflect for a while on what he did.”