Reagan's would-be assassin to get more time away from hospital

By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Hinckley is ready for more freedom from the mental hospital where he has lived since shortly after he shot President Ronald Reagan in a failed assassination attempt in 1981, a federal judge ruled on Friday. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman accepted a recommendation from St. Elizabeths Hospital that Hinckley be allowed to leave for 17 days a month, up from 10 days a month, to stay with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia. Hinckley shot Reagan in an attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. As part of his therapy and reintegration into society, Hinckley has been allowed since 2006 to visit Williamsburg, a city about 150 miles south of St. Elizabeths in Washington, D.C. During the visits, Hinckley volunteers in the cafeteria of a local mental hospital, sees a music therapist and is observed by clinical staff before returning to spend the balance of each month back at St. Elizabeths.

via Health News Headlines - Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/reagan-39-assassin-more-time-away-hospital-220100918.html