Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See: Jump’s a Slam Dunk for the Prosecution?

March 28th, 2014. By LucyC

Defense lawyers for these three guys may set a record for fastest case tried, after police discovered actual footage from a GoPro camera taken by two men from Long Island who BASE jumped from the new Freedom Tower (aka the former World Trade Center) in New York. See video below…can[t get much better evidence than that.

The four men involved turned themselves in to New York police for parachuting off the top of the United States’ tallest building, while their lawyers were negotiating with the prosecutors.

Lawyers for Andrew Rossig, James Brady, Marco Markovich and Kyle Hartwell state that three of the men climbed the 1,776 foot (541 meter) tower on September 30, 2013, while the fourth fellow kept watch. According to their attorneys, these four guys are experienced BASE jumpers.

FYI—the new Tower isn’t even officially open yet. One of the jumpers, Andrew Rossig, said the jump exposed lax security at the site—a possible defense? Maybe a point in the defendants’ favor their lawyers could leverage? Uhm…maybe not. Their lawyers say the men will likely be charged with trespassing and burglary.

But not one to give up easily, Markovich’s attorney, Joseph Corozzo of Manhattan (shown at right, with the look of one who knows his client’s antics will be all over the late-night monologues, standing next to Markovich, middle, and Hartwell, far right), said they want to find “a way to use the video to donate money to charity.” That’s thinking outside the box. He said the charity would be one working on behalf of 9/11 victims, “to show they meant no disrespect.”

According to Joseph Murray, who is representing Hartwell, his client had not been arraigned. “My guy is not alleged to be one of the jumpers,” he told local media while he was waiting for the start of the arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court. “I guess he’s being charged as acting in concert with the top count being burglary.” He sounds enthusiastic.

The Freedom TowerSla is expected to open later this year—then I guess BASE jumping can begin legitimately.

Tags: Andrew Rossig, BASE Jumping, Freedom Tower, James Brady, Kyle Hartwell, Marco Markovich, NYC

This was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2014 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.