John Hinckley won’t face charges in the death of James Brady, former President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary.
Brady, who was shot in the head 33 years ago during Hinckley’s 1981 attempt to assassinate Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, died last summer in what was ruled a homicide by a Virginia medical examiner.
Legal hurdles — including the ruling by a jury in 1982 that Hinckley was insane at the time of the shooting — prevented prosecutors from pressing charges, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said in a statement Friday.
“The Brady Family respects the decision of the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia not to move forward with prosecution,” Brady’s family said in a statement Friday. “We deeply appreciate the extraordinary outpouring of love and support since the Bear’s passing. We miss him greatly.”
Brady was shot in the head by Hinckley during the assassination attempt, which left him with slurred speech, partial paralysis and a slew of chronic diseases.
D.C. also had a “year-and-a-day” rule in effect during Hinckley’s 1982 trial, which prevented murder charges from being filed if more than that span of time passed between the shooting and a victim’s death.
