NEW YORK—An individual is not entitled to parachute off New York City landmarks, including the Empire State Building, no matter how extensive his training, a New York appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The ruling reversed a 2007 decision that said stuntman and former Discovery Channel host Jeb Corliss did not put people at risk when attempting to parachute from the Empire State Building's 86th floor observatory deck in 2006.
In overturning that decision, the four-judge panel ruled that an accidental misstep or a faulty parachute could have put bystanders and security professionals at risk.
"Even a properly functioning parachute that landed a jumper safely might cause a variety of accidents," the court ruled.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office is now free to pursue its charge of reckless endangerment, which carry a sentence of up to one year in prison.
Lawyers for Corliss were not immediately available.
In April 2006, Corliss, who has made successful leaps from the Eiffel Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, tried to scale a 10-foot (three-metre) security fence in order to jump off the skyscraper.
He was stopped by police and security officers and arrested. One officer was seriously injured in the scuffle.
Justice Michael Ambrecht of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan had thrown out reckless endangerment charges against Corliss on the grounds that the stunt, while "dangerous and ill conceived," was legal because there was no law barring it.
But prosecutors replied in court papers, that "his effort was thwarted only by the Herculean labors of the police officers and security guards with whom he fought mightily when they tried to stop him."
Feeds