Posted on 08/08/2014 3:28:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
The death of James Brady -- President Ronald Reagan's press secretary who was wounded in the attempt on Reagan's life in March 1981 -- was a homicide, the medical examiner for the Northern District of Virginia ruled Friday.
The medical examiner said Brady died as a result of the grievous injuries he suffered 33 years ago, which means that gunman John Hinckley Jr. could be charged with Brady's murder.
Brady was 73 when he died earlier this week. He had been partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair since the assassination attempt, and his speech was slurred. He used his own experience to launch a campaign against gun violence that led to groundbreaking gun control legislation signed into law in 1993.
The medical examiner's ruling has the potential to open the door to federal murder charges against Hinckley, who is now a mental patient at St. Elizabeth's hospital in suburban Washington, said NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams on News4.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity of attempted assassination of President Reagan. Brady, Reagan, police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy were shot on March 30, 1981 as they left the Washington Hilton Hotel.
"There is no statute of limitations on murder in either the federal or state system," Williams said.
But, he added, "We are a long way from knowing what the federal authorities are going to do with this, or whether they are going to do anything with it."
Williams said prosecutors will have to weigh the likelihood of getting a different verdict on murder charges than they did decades ago on the 13 charges that Hinckley faced after the assassination attempt.
Any charges also could complicate effort of Hinckley's family, who are trying to get him a permanent leave from St. Elizabeth's, Williams said. Hinckley has been granted repeated weeks-long leaves to stay with family in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia issued a brief statement Friday afternoon, saying it is reviewing the ruling.
Brady's wife, Sarah, said the family had not yet been officially notified of the ruling, but had seen the reports. "This isn't a surprise to anybody or to her, given that his health was impacted and he suffered such consequences over the years," a family spokeswoman said. "If that is the case it is in the prosecutors' hands, and it is up to them."
Sarah Brady is comforted by the outpouring of love for her husband since his death Monday, the family spokeswoman added. "She is feeling great about the sendoff that Jim is getting. She is holding up."
Really? But he too died decades later, was it really due to him being shot so many years before?
I understand that could be the case, but it hasn’t been explained here, and I never heard this about Warhol before.
Re: #20
Thoughtful reply.
If the guy Dick Cheney shot dies today, Cheney gets charged with murder?
Why wasn’t Reagan’s death ruled a homocide?
I’m with ya. It’s completely ridiculous.
I think it was on a thread on FR forum that some poster was joking and said that the gun grabbers would call his death a gun related homicide. These days you have to be careful what you joke about.
Did Hinckley know Jodi was ... different?
You think he wanted a “Do Over” after finding that out.
obama will give him a presidential pardon in 2016- mark it down...
“She is feeling great about the sendoff that Jim is getting.”
“Why not? He had outlived his usefulness and she was tired of having to push his wheelchair around anyway.”
Even in death she’s using him for the anti-gun lobby... she has managed to get his death ruled due to a gunshot wound, 33 years later.
And Reagan's death was a homicide too!!!
You’re right, he was.
Reagan died of old age, not a gunshot. Not a homicide.
Even if Brady died of the the shot, the guy was insane when he did it so he will not be found guilty.
This is nothing more than an attempt to take a shot (no pun intended) at the NRA.
Maybe I have it wrong but I thought that the death would have to occur within 1 year and 1 day to be able to charge homicide.
I didn't post it anywhere online, but that was my first reaction and I wasn't joking.
That is what I thought as well.
No, RR did not die as a result of the shooting. He died of alheimers. Nothing to do with the shooting. Oh yes if you shoot someone and they live for say 20 years and they die as a result of the injury you can be charged with murder.
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