Bit of a Stretch, No?

James Brady's death ruled a Homicide... 33 years after he was shot by John Hinckley.

Now my heart goes out to the Brady family, but it's a bit of a stretch to declare a gunshot 33 years earlier as the cause of death of a 73 year old man.  Heck, Reagan died of Pneumonia and he was shot in the lung in the same incident... why wasn't that homicide.

The Medical Examiner isn't talking, referring all questions to the DC District Attorney.

The interval of time yields an almost infinite number of what ifs... would Reagan have gotten Pneumonia if he hadn't been shot?  Would Brady have died years earlier if he hadn't been shot.  It is plausible, the increased medical attention he received due to his injury over the years could certainly have caught something earlier than would have been done otherwise... lipids, blood pressure, who knows? He was 40 when he was shot, he could have been dead at 62 if he hadn't been.  Even if he died of a ruptured aneurysm in a blood vessel damaged in the shooting, who's to say it wasn't medical malpractice by the surgeon who executed the repair.

Too many variables, too many possible outcomes.

As Hilary Clinton would say, "What difference does it make?"  Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity of shooting him... can you charge him with murder now?

Thomas Delahanty, the DC police officer also shot is now 80, will his death be a homicide when it occurs?  How about Tim McCarthy, the secret service agent also shot, he's currently 65.

The median life expectancy of a white American male is 75.7, is his death surprising?

What do you think?