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Hinckley's mom thinks he's cured

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- John Hinkley's 78-year-old mother told a federal judge she thinks her son has recovered from the psychotic delusions that drove him to shoot Ronald Reagan.

"We feel like John is well," Jo Ann Hinckley, said of her 48-year-old son. "There's no issue of dangerousness with John at all. None at all."

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Jo Ann Hinkcley told U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman in Alexandria, Va., her son has made numerous supervised trips to public places in Northern Virginia -- to a bookstore, a restaurant, beach, the theater and a mall -- all without incident and the outings improve her son's mental health, the Washington Post reported.

"They've just been beautiful outings," she said.

John W. Hinckley Jr. is in the middle of a three-day hearing to determine if he should be allowed to leave Washington's psychiatric hospital without staff supervision for brief visits with his aging parents.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 for the March 30, 1981, shooting of then-President Reagan, his press secretary and two law enforcement officials.

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