John Hinckley, who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan, to be released from mental hospital

John Hinckley Jr has spent years fighting to be fully freed from the mental hospital where has been held since being found not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting President Ronald Reagan and three other men.

Next week he will finally win his release, albeit under strict conditions.

US District Judge Paul Friedman ruled Wednesday that the would-be assassin will be freed August 5 from St Elizabeths Hospital to live full time with his mother in Virginia.

Friedman’s ruling was not a surprise to those who have followed the saga of Hinckley’s life and the dozens of court hearings in recent years that delved into the minutiae of his mental well-being. Increasingly in recent years he has been granted many temporary unsupervised trips off the hospital’s grounds.

In ordering Hinckley’s release, Friedman wrote that the presidential assailant no longer posed a threat to himself or others, and his psychotic disorder and major depression have been in remission for more than 20 years. Hinckley has displayed “no symptoms of active mental illness, exhibited no violent behavior, shown no interest in weapons,” nor exhibited any signs of being suicidal, Friedman wrote.

Federal prosecutors, who have long battled Hinckley’s doctors and lawyers over his expanding privileges, said they were reviewing Friedman’s order and declined to comment.