DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: "CNN 20" today: the John Hinckley Jr. verdict.</s>ANNOUNCER: Bringing you the world for 20 years, this is CNN.</s>RALPH BEGLEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Judge Barrington Parker announced the verdict in a silent courtroom. Hinckley stood still. His lawyers sat stiffly. On the first charge, attempt to assassinate the president of the United States, not guilty by reason of insanity.</s>RALPH BEGLEITER, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was found innocent by reason of insanity. Over course of the months of the trial, the defense lawyers wove an intricate fabric that demonstrated to the jury that John Hinckley was not in his right mind at the time he fired that bullet at President Reagan. And at the time of the trial, I thought to myself, this is crazy. I can't believe that he's going to be declared innocent of this crime. This was a great deal of disbelief. Most people who had followed the trial thought it was crystal clear that he was guilty of trying to assassinate President Reagan. And so then people began to look very carefully into the rationale for the jury deciding that, yes, he was guilty of pulling the trigger but, no, he was not guilty of the crime because he was insane at the time. And at the time, we were all speculating about how long Hinckley would remain in a mental hospital, effectively in prison, because he hasn't been able to go anywhere since. Some people said, he's going to be out pretty quickly; this is a travesty of justice, and so on. The fact of the matter is, however, that John Hinckley, having been convicted of the assassination attempt, has not been free to do anything since he pulled that trigger.
CNN 20: John Hinckley Jr. Verdict, June 21, 1982