JetBlue flight attendant concurs to mental-health evaluation
NEW YORK — The flight attendant accused of onboard antics that captured the nation’s attention when he told off a passenger and slid down the plane’s emergency chute with a beer will undergo a mental health evaluation with the aim of avoiding jail time in a possible plea deal.
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Steven Slater, dressed in a trim blue suit, appeared in a Queens courtroom for a brief hearing on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing after last month’s meltdown aboard a JetBlue Airways Corp. flight from Pittsburgh that had just landed at Kennedy International Airport.
Video: NBC: Plea deal in works for JetBlue attendant (on this page)
He was working Aug. 9 when, he said, an argument took place with a rude passenger. After landing at JFK, he went on the public address system, swore at a passenger who he claimed had treated him rudely, grabbed a beer and exited via an emergency chute, prosecutors said.
Attorneys on both sides stated a deal was being discussed. Slater will be evaluated and may qualify for an alternative sentencing program, which means he could face community service and counselling instead of jail.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown stated Slater’s willingness to be evaluated shows he is taking the charges more seriously than he had in the past. Slater had spoken out after the incident, as his public opinion swelled and hundreds of thousands of fans on-line cheered him for standing up to the inhospitable world of airline travel.
Video: JetBlue: Slater’s huge exit was for good (on this page)
The district attorney, talking to reporters after the hearing, stated it would behoove the public to take the Aug. 9 incident more seriously, noting the slide cost $25,000 to repair and the plane had to be taken out of service afterward, causing passenger delays.
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“It’s no laughing matter,” he said.
Slater’s attorney, Daniel J. Horwitz, stated his client was taking the matter very seriously and stated he had been under tremendous pressure because of his terminally ill mother, recently deceased father, and health problems of his own, adding that his client is HIV positive. He stated he was hoping prosecutors would take into account Slater’s “long-standing and well-regarded reputation in the industry.”
Horwitz stated he hopes they can come to an agreement that favorably resolves the case, but he would not specify what he was looking for. Brown stated if Slater is admitted for alternative sentencing, he could undergo a treatment program lasting weeks, but he stated it depended on the outcome of the evaluation and he is not ruling out the possibility of jail time yet.
Slater, his head held high, left the court without talking to the swell of reporters surrounding him. His publicist and attorney stated he is in good spirits and has spent the past few weeks in California with his ailing mother.
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Slater resigned from JetBlue last week after about three years there; JetBlue stated only that he was no longer an employee. Slater has spent almost 20 years in the airline industry, but it’s not clear what he is going to do now.
“Right now we want to get past the criminal issues. Then we will worry about the future,” publicist Howard Bragman said. “Obviously he will be unemployed until all this is resolved.”
JetBlue suspended Slater after the incident. It told employees in a memo that press coverage was not taking into account how much harm can be caused by emergency slides, which are deployed with a potentially deadly amount of force.
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Submited at Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 at 10:00 am on News by alliana
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