Reagan aide Brady’s death ruled homicide
Washington, Aug. 9: The death this week of former White House press secretary James Brady, who survived a gunshot wound to the head in a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, has been ruled a homicide by a medical examiner, the police said on Friday.
Federal prosecutors said they are reviewing the ruling, but a law professor and an attorney for John Hinckley Jr., who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting, said bringing new charges against him in Brady’s death seemed unlikely.
“I think it ( the medical examiner’s ruling) will mean nothing,” long- time Hinckley attorney Barry Levine told The Associated Press.
“No prosecutors will bring such a case. The notion that this could be a successful prosecution is far- fetched. There is no legal basis to pursue this.”
Brady, who never regained normal use of his limbs and was often in a wheelchair, died on Monday at age 73 from a series of health issues, according to his family.
After the shooting, Brady undertook a highprofile, personal crusade for gun control, which continues to be one of the country’s most hotly debated issues.
The Brady law, named after him, requires a fiveday wait and background check before a handgun can be sold.
President Bill Clinton signed it into law in 1993. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a gunshot wound and its health consequences, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide, according to a news release on Friday from district police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump.
Nancy Bull, district administrator for the Virginia medical examiner’s office, which made the ruling, declined to disclose any more results of the autopsy and referred inquiries to District police.
Besides partial paralysis from brain damage, Brady suffered short- term memory impairment, slurred speech and constant pain. His family said he died on Monday at age 73 from a series of health issues.
William Miller, a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Washington, said the office “is reviewing the ruling on the death of Mr Brady and has no further comment at this time.” The FBI are also reviewing the case. — AP