Seattle Municipal Court Judge Willie Gregory on Friday sentenced the owner of an aerial photography company to 30 days in jail for losing control of his drone at the Gay Pride Parade in 2015 and injuring two people.
Judge Gregory told the defendant, Paul M. Skinner, that he recognized the incident that injured the parade goers was an accident, but said Skinner had “engaged in conduct that put people in danger of being injured, which is what happened.”
City Attorney Pete Holmes, who had sought 90 days of jail time, said he views the faulty operation of drones “as a serious public safety issue that will only get worse,” noting the increasing prevalence of drones on the market.
In representing Holmes before Judge Gregory, Assistant City Prosecutor Raymond Lee said Seattle residents “should not fear a drone strike falling from the sky” and noted that the defendant created the situation that caused the harm.
When Skinner lost control of the drone, it crashed into a building on 4th Avenue and then struck the two people; one woman suffered a concussion and a man was bruised.
Last month a jury convicted Skinner of reckless endangerment, which is defined this way: “A person is guilty of reckless endangerment when he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person.”
In handing down the sentence, Gregory, who had presided over the four-day jury trial in January, recalled that “the [woman] victim had a hard time talking about what happened to her when you [Skinner] placed that drone in the air.” A hearing is set for May 25 to resolve the amount of restitution that Skinner owes the woman for her medical treatment.
Skinner’s attorney said he will appeal the verdict. While it is pending, Skinner will not have to serve the 30 days in jail. However, he will have to meet the other conditions imposed by the court.
“With limited legal tools at our disposal,” Holmes said, “I’m extremely proud of the job Raymond Lee and Jeff Wolf [Lee’s co-counsel] did. Operators should know that we will continue to go after them when they disregard public safety.”