United States v. Hinckley

200 F. Supp. 3d 1, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97906, 2016 WL 4036414
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided July 27, 2016·No. Criminal No. 81-0306 (PLF)·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

PAUL L. FRIEDMAN, United States District Judge

In 1981, John W. Hinckley, Jr. was a profoundly troubled twenty-five-year-old young man suffering from active and acute psychosis and major depression. His mental condition had gradually worsened over the preceding years — beginning as early as 1976 — ultimately resulting in a deep obsession with the actress Jodie Foster and the film Taxi Driver. Mr. Hinckley began to identify with the main character in the film, Travis Bickle, who unsuccessfully plots to assassinate a presidential candidate in order to win the affections of a young woman. At numerous points in the years leading up to 1981, Mr. Hinckley travelled to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut seeking to establish contact with Jodie Foster, leaving notes, letters, and poems at her dormitory and even speaking with her on the phone several times. After failing in his effort to establish a personal relationship with Ms. Foster, Mr. Hinckley then sought to impress her through stalking President Jimmy Carter, travelling to Washington, D.C., Columbus, Ohio, and Dayton, Ohio over a three-day period in September of 1980.- On October 9, 1980, Mr. Hinckley was arrested with several firearms and ammunition in his suitcase at the Nashville, Tennessee airport, where President Carter was scheduled to make a campaign appearance.

After the presidential election in November, 1980, Mr. Hinckley next travelled to Washington, D.C. and began following President-elect Ronald Reagan. On March 30, 1981, after several' more unsuccessful trips to New Haven, Mr. Hinckley wrote a letter to Ms. Foster describing his plan to kill President Reagan in order to impress her. That same day, Mr. Hinckley attempted to assassinate the President of the United States in the driveway of the Washington Hilton Hotel, shooting and severely wounding President Reagan, Presidential Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy, and Metropolitan Police Officer Thomas Delahanty. Mr. Brady suffered permanent brain damage and eventually died from his injuries in 2014. After a seven-week trial before a jury in 1982, Mr. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of -insanity and committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital. Shortly after his trial, Mr. Hinckley attempted suicide and continued to suffer from active symptoms of serious mental illness.

Today, more than 34 years later, Mr. Hinckley is 61 years old and suffering from arthritis, high blood pressure, and various other physical ailments like many men his age. He has been under the care of St. Elizabeths Hospital for over three decades. Since 1983, when he last attempted suicide, he has displayed no symptoms of active mental illness, exhibited no violent behavior, shown no interest in weapons, and demonstrated no suicidal ideation. The government and the Hospital both [4] agree that Mr. Hinckley’s primary diagnoses of psychotic disorder not otherwise specified and major depression have been in full and sustained remission for well over twenty years, perhaps more than 27 years. In addition, since 2006, Mr. Hinck-ley has successfully completed over 80 unsupervised visits with his family in Williamsburg, Virginia, fully complying with the Court’s strict conditions, with two minor exceptions. The government and its expert, Dr. Raymond Patterson; an independent expert who conducted a comprehensive risk assessment in this case, Dr. Katherine Murphy; and all of Mr. Hinck-ley’s treatment providers both at St. Eliza-beths Hospital and in Williamsburg now agree — unanimously — that Mr. Hinck-ley is clinically ready for full-time convalescent leave and that, with certain conditions, he will not be a danger to himself or others. In the view of most of the experts who testified before this Court, Mr. Hinck-ley has by now received the maximum benefits possible in an in-patient setting.

After carefully considering the relevant legal authorities, the expert reports, the testimony presented at the evidentiary hearing held in April of 2015, Mr. Hinck-ley’s entire history and clinical record over thirty-four years, and the briefs filed by the parties, the Court will grant the Hospital’s proposal for full-time convalescent leave in Williamsburg, Virginia, with additional and modified conditions as discussed below. A summary of the testimony, the Court’s findings of fact, analysis of Mr. Hinckley’s risk factors, the Court’s conclusions, and the conditions that will be required by the Court for convalescent leave are detailed in the remainder of this Opinion.1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. BACKGROUND . . . 5

II THE HOSPITAL’S PROPOSAL FOR CONVALESCENT LEAVE... 11

III. THE EVIDENTIARY HEARING...22

A. Witnesses from St. Elizabeths Hospital. . .23

1. Verne “VJ” Hyde—Forensic Clinical Administrator.. ,23

.2. Dr. Katherine Murphy—Forensic Psychologist.. .26

3. Dr. Nicole Johnson—Director of the Forensic Outpatient Department.. .35

B. Witnesses from Mr. Hinckley’s Williamsburg Treatment Team.. ,36

1. Dr. Deborah Giorgi-Guarnieri— Treating Psychiatrist ... 36

[5]*52.Mr. Jonathan Weiss—Case Manager ... 39

C. Witnesses from the Hinckley Family.. .42
D. The Government’s Expert Witness: Dr. Raymond.F. Patterson.. .43

IV. FINDINGS OF FACT .. .46

Y. DISCUSSION .. .49
A. Mr. Hinckley’s Identified Risk Factors. . .49

1. Mr. Hinckley’s Mental Health: Depression, Psychosis, and Personality Disorder. , .50

2. Isolation and Mr. Hinckley’s Integration into the Williamsburg Community ... 52

3. Mr. Hinckley’s Level of Insight into his Mental Illness... 52

4. Access to Weapons ... 52

5. The Hinckley Family’s Support.. .52

6. History of Suicide Attempts... 52

7. Difficulty in Relationships with Others, Particularly Women ... 53

8. Deception, Underreporting, and Need for Monitoring ... 54

B. Specific Proposals in the Hospital’s (e) Letters .. .55

1. Full-Time Convalescent Leave... 55

2. The Hospital’s Proposed Treatment Plan and Frequency of Appointments ...56

3. Monitoring, Risk Management, and Accountability ... 58

4. Financial Support and Housing.. .61

VI. CONCLUSION .. . 62

I. BACKGROUND

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United States v. Hinckley, 200 F. Supp. 3d 1, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97906, 2016 WL 4036414 (D.D.C. 2016).

200 F. Supp. 3d 1 (United States v. Hinckley) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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