the $20,000 BASE jump
For a year and a half I have been fighting the DA and the owners of WCTV's 2,000 ft. tower in Metcalf GA in court. Two of my Atlanta "not friends" and I were in freefall when the station engineer showed up. We had a rental car parked and covered in the woods about 300 yds. from the tower and the cops got the car, rented in my name. The engineer lied to the cops and claimed we broke into the building to steal a key to the elevator that we have had a key for several years and that we did $18,000 in damage to the tower such as burned out lights and frayed cables. I forced this to a jury trial and the engineer lied under oath on several issues. With no fingerprints and no witnesses and after two days of telling the judge that they could not reach a verdict, the jury was forced back into the jury room by the judge and came back with a "compromise verdict" of not guilty on felony criminal damage to property and guilty of felony burglary. I am now forced to go fron Tahoe back to GA for the eighth time for sentencing. It is now going to the appeals process in Atlanta. This has cost over $20,000 so far. I took the rap for the other two guys and they have never even offered to help me in any way. I could have had them brought in to the trial to testify and be arrested to save my ass from this.
LESSONS LEARNED: 1-Never jump with anyone you are not sure you can totally trust. 2-Always have ground crew with radios and scanners who can move the car miles away. 3-Never assume that just because you have been jumping an object with no problems for 12 years that it will be OK to leave your vehicle near the base. 4-Always have a primary and backup getaway and hide the rig plan and talk is over as if your life depended on it.
Earl Redfern
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October 2nd, 1999
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