The death on Monday of President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary James S. Brady, has been ruled a homicide as a result of the gunshot wound he suffered in an assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981, according to District police department’s chief spokeswoman.I'd say that they're probably going to indict and arrest John Hinckley for this.
Hinckley's attorney is blowing smoke. If the state can prove that the gunshot wound was the cause of Brady;s death, they have him pretty much dead to rights. A murder charge has an element that wasn't proved in the original trial: A death.
This would not be an unusual turn of events. As the first link showed, they've reached back 40 years to charge someone for a murder when the victim took that long to die. But causation can be hard to prove.
I expect that they'll try for it.
According to the Volokh Conspiracy:
ReplyDelete...the jury’s conclusion that Hinckley was insane is now binding on the government, and thus precludes a retrial for murder
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/08/may-the-government-try-john-hinckley-for-james-bradys-murder/
...although it wouldn't surprise me if someone did intend to retry the murderer for political points.
As I recall from my residence ther, in England, If the "victim" of bodily harm lived "a year and a day" the perp could not be charged with their death.
ReplyDeleteNot our law, but bet it will be cited as "common law"
Bear