A federal judge has ordered a meeting to take place on or before Jan. 18 that will outline plans for John Hinckley, Jr. to spend more time at his mother’s James City County residence.
The meeting,which will be between St. Elizabeths Hospital officials, counsel for the United States and counsel for Hinckley, will produce a joint report in writing that may be filed under seal. The report will outline a plan on how to proceed and identify a schedule for the process, according to court documents.
Hearings began in November 2011 to investigate the possibility of Hinckley spending more time in James City County, though the efforts stalled when Colonial Behavioral Health People’s Place decided not to participate in the effort. Hinckley’s attorney, Berry Levine, and Levine’s colleagues from the firm Dickstein Shapiro LLP, filed a motion that sought to end their relationship with Hinckley due to “significant outstanding legal bills,” though the court will not grant that request until the current petition is resolved as Levine and his associates are heavily invested in the process and to be removed from it at this juncture would unfairly prejudice Hinckley, according to court documents.
A plan discussed by the court would have eventually allowed Hinckley to live with his mother in convalescence, though that was contingent upon Colonial Behavioral Health providing therapy services. In August, a letter to the court from Colonial Behavioral Health stated that they no longer wished to provide therapeutic care for Hinckley if he were to be transferred from St. Elizabeths Hospital to James City County.
Hinckley has been in the custody of St Elizabeths Hospital since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Three others were wounded in the shooting.
Court hearings began in November 2011 to explore the possibility of expanding Hinckley’s visitation privileges to include two periods of 17 days away from the hospital that would be spent at his mother’s James City County residence. If those visits were successful, there would be six periods of 24 days in James City County followed by a conditional release from St Elizabeths to reside with his mother on convalescent leave with psychiatric services provided locally, according to court documents.
According to court documents, St. Elizabeths Hospital was tasked with informing the court of an alternate plan for Hinckley’s care in James City County. An Oct. 18 letter from St. Elizabeths Hospital notified the court of its intent to continue the petition to expand privileges for Hinckley. A petition was submitted under seal to the court on Dec. 13, according to court documents.
The United States filed a motion in August to deny an expansion of Hinckley’s conditional release. The reasoning behind that motion was that Colonial Behavior Health no longer wished to participate in Hinckley’s therapy. You can read WY Daily’s coverage of that motion here.
According to court documents, government experts, representatives of St Elizabeths Hospital and Hinckley’s own expert all relied on Colonial Behavioral Health’s involvement in Hinckley’s treatment. The government suggested St Elizabeths Hospital would need to develop a new plan for Hinckley’s care to support the expansion of release privileges.
