Besides, flinging himself - carefully - off the Empire State Building is his right to do

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11152008/news/regionalnews/jumper_to_jury__im_a_pro_138843.htm

JUMPER TO JURY: I'M A PRO

By LAURA ITALIANO

DAREDEVIL'S TRYING TIME: Jeb Corliss is on trial in Manhattan Criminal Court for his failed attempt to elude security and parachute off the Empire State Building in 2006.

November 15, 2008

The California daredevil arrested for trying to parachute off the Empire State Building two years ago took his case to a Manhattan jury yesterday, arguing that he was a professional stunt jumper, not some earthbound amateur - like the prosecutor.

"I venture to say Mr. Crooks has never even bungee jumped in his lifetime," the lawyer for jumpin' Jeb Corliss told jurors in opening statements, speaking of assistant DA Mark Crooks.

In more than a decade of parachuting, Corliss has been invited by governments around the world to leap from their monuments. Now he is fighting misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment by arguing he took too many safety precautions to meet the legal definition of "recklessness" during his April 2006 attempt.

Besides, flinging himself - carefully - off the Empire State Building "is something that he, as an American citizen, has a right to do," Corliss' lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, argued in an opening statement that invoked the First Amendment, the Thanksgiving table, the Golden Rule, and the courtroom as a "temple of justice."

[meegbear]

1. But his opening statement didn't invoke the flag, Mother or apple pie ...

GUILTY!

[NNN0LHI]

2. USA! USA! USA!

Bet that would have done it.

Don

[flvegan]

4. Or the biggie: Jesus. WWJJF

Where Would Jesus Jump From

[krispos42]

3. So, like, is he totally unaware of the people on the street below him?

And heavier things like fast-moving taxis?


"I made it! I made it! I-" BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP <splat>

"Hey, you, get offa my hood! I got payin' customers back here! Push your shinbone back unda the skin and get the hell outta the road!"

[MrCoffee]

5. That is a brilliant defense

Just sayin.