WASHINGTON -- The death this week of former White House press secretary James Brady has been ruled a homicide as a result of the gunshot wound he suffered more than three decades ago in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

The announcement was made by the medical examiner's office in Virginia, where Brady, 73, died in an Alexandria retirement community Monday, and was confirmed Friday by Gwendolyn Crump, the District of Columbia Police Department's chief spokesman.

There was no immediate word on whether the shooter, John Hinckley Jr., who has been treated at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital since his trial, could face new criminal charges.

Hinckley, 59, was found innocent by reason of insanity after he shot Reagan and three others on March 30, 1981. He told authorities after the shooting that he hoped assassinating Reagan would impress the actress Jodie Foster.

The decision to pronounce Brady's death a homicide 33 years after he was wounded outside the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest Washington raises questions about whether prosecutors can, and will, try to get around double jeopardy -- the legal concept forbidding a person to be tried twice for the same crime -- and pursue a murder charge.

Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said Friday that prosecutors are reviewing the ruling and that his office would have "no further comment at this time."

Over the past several years, Hinckley has been granted expanded trips away from St. Elizabeths and can now spend as many as 17 days a month with his mother in Williamsburg, Va. His attorney, Barry Levine, said he had not seen the coroner's report but that he felt confident there is nothing for prosecutors to consider.

"The prosecution will face insurmountable legal barriers to any prosecution," he said. "It ought to be self-evident. Is there any conceivable theory of facts that would differ from the facts that applied to the prosecution in 1982? Is there something new or different other than the fact that Brady died? He was found not guilty of the assault. How could he be found guilty of the more serious charge?"

Brady, along with his wife, Sarah, became leading advocates of gun control after the shooting, fighting six years for passage of legislation requiring background checks for handguns bought from federally licensed dealers.

Gail Hoffman, a Brady family spokesman, said she could not immediately comment on the homicide ruling but said, "Jim had been suffering health issues since the shooting."

Thomas Zeno, the former prosecutor who for decades led the government's efforts to block Hinckley's requests for more freedom, said he expected his former colleagues to weigh charging Hinckley with Brady's death.

"They are going to have to look at the legal questions," he said. "They are going to have to look at the factual questions, if they can really show the direct linkage [between the assault and Brady's death] beyond a reasonable doubt. And then they are going to have to make the decision about whether it is the right thing to do."

Information for this article was contributed by Adam Goldman and Annys Shin of The Washington Post.

A Section on 08/09/2014