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."
And cashing in.
Have they moved St. Elizabeths? It was in S.E. D.C. when I lived there.
using this homicide declaration 30 years after Mr. Brady was shot is analogues to killing your 30 year kid and calling it a late abortion
And charge Sara Brady with corpse desecration for using him as a proverbial “bloody shirt” to infringe on our rights.
He should have been cared for, not used as a morbid sockpuppet for an agenda.
Well said, and worth repeating!
No disrespect meant but living with Sarah Brady would do me in. Charge her first.
This will be THE CASE that will fill the airwaves with no time left to examine the 2016 election issues and candidates.
This is actually pretty common. When a victim survives, with or without being crippled, if they later die, often it can be associated with their injury.
The two most common are when someone is shot, and they can’t remove the bullet, or some fragment thereof, and sometimes years or decades later it “migrates” in such a way that it kills them. The other way is if the victim is in a persistent coma for years and just withers away, eventually dying.
And yes, because homicide usually has no statute of limitations, prosecutions happen. Hinckley might be a special case, though because the determination of insanity after the shooting likely applied to the entire “event”, not to the individual parts of the crime.
BS
Why do men live shorter than their wives? Because they want to.
Jail Hinkley!
Thanks!
Do we know that Hinckley acted alone?
Funny how all the conspiracy theorists go on and on about JFK, but they probably never even gave a second thought about the attempt on Reagan.
I don’t know what the law is in Virginia, but the common law rule, and the rule in many states, is that the injury must cause death within a year and a day to be charged as murder.The Medical Examiner may be talking out of his hat.
this will likely result in a new trial at a cost of how much?........$$$$$$$$$
As much as I always supported Reagan and would never have let Hinckley free, I need more than just: “The medical examiner said Brady died as a result of the grievous injuries he suffered 33 years ago” - I need HOW the medical examiner explains that, in order to judge that statement.
“Vengeance is mine saygeth the Lord”
so, I can not allow my feelings toward Hinckley to ride over reason and the report does not give enough details for reason to judge.
A young Obama on the grassy knoll?
The original 13 charges against Hinckley, for all of which he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Attempted assassination of the President of the United States, assault on a federal officer, use of a firearm in the commission of a federal offense, multiple counts of assault with attempt to kill, and carrying a pistol without a license.
Now that, was a magic bullet.
Did it go....back, and to the left.....back, and to the left.....back, and to the left.....back, and to the left.....back, and to the left.....back, and to the left.....back, and to the left.....back, and to the left.....
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