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."
It's high time Hinkley got put back where he belongs, where he can't hurt the public with his free releases anymore.
Andy Warhol died as a result of complications from the wounds of his shooting by a feminazi terrorist (who wrote the SCUM Manifesto) yet in the end they said his death was as a result of medical negligence, not murder.
This is nuts. I’m sure that the family didn’t exert any pressure on the medical examiner for anti-gun political purposes...
Using this “logic”, since RR was shot at the same time and he died several years later his death should be ruled a homicide also, right?
I think the only thing that will give meaning to his murder is more unconstitutional gun laws. Universal confiscation would be a glorious send off, don’t you think?
Why not? He had outlived his usefulness and she was tired of having to push his wheelchair around anyway.
..and Jodi Foster still isnt impressed..
I agree this is a bit strange, although Hinkley should be in jail still
SCUM! she was describing herself?
Hasn’t he been allowed non-supervised outside visits? Or am I confusing him with the guy that shot John Lennon?
Only if Hinckley got a sex change.
33 years? That’s a stretch, legally speaking (IANL)
Charge him.
Brady was 73. Granted his quality of life was down the toilet but it is a tough sell to rule it homicide and charge Hinkley now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCUM_Manifesto
The SCUM Manifesto is a radical feminist manifesto[1][2] written in 1967[3][4] by Valerie Solanas. It argues that men have ruined the world and that women should overthrow society and eliminate the male sex.[5][6] It has been reprinted at least 10 times, translated into 13 languages, and excerpted several times. It generated a range of reactions, including that it was utopian, feminist, pre-feminist, crusading, and a call to act; accurate, symbolic, irreverent, funny, outrageous, and extreme; parodic and satiric but not a put-on; witty, shocking, and articulative of rage; nonviolent, a suggestion for retraining of men, a declaration that men would be killed, and a charter for violence; and misandric; and that it sought a women-only world and that it wouldn’t be necessary to kill men.
The term SCUM appeared on the cover of first edition from Olympia Press as S.C.U.M. and was said to stand for “Society for Cutting Up Men.”[7] Solanas objected, insisting that it was not an acronym, although the expanded term appeared in a Village Voice ad she had written in 1967
Hinckley should be in a dark cell until he dies and goes to that dark, fiery place. But that wouldn’t be rehabilitation, would it?
And, besides, he was passe. They now have Gabby Giffords to use as a Ju-Ju doll to shake at the public, trying to engender sympathy for the latest gun control of the week law.
I own that book, and really enjoy it.
Much like James Garfield in that respect.
The man lived 33 years after the incident.
I cannot see how this can be ruled a homicide.
Even Civil War soldiers having lead bullets left in their bodies died off in much less time after the war.
Mr. Brady was fortunate to have lived so long after being shot.
Some don’t get the privilege.
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