I think it'd be a pretty stupid 14 year old that would think he could get
into a plane , with no training, and not cause any damage. The DA could very
well try to make that point in court and would probably be successful.
Though I did not find it in the Alabama laws I know that in TN, GA, and
KY theft of anything worth over 500 bucks is a felony. Since I could not
find it in black and white I did not mention it, but I am sure that will be
the case in Alabama as well..if I find anything on that line I will let ya
know
In Avweb article it says the van was stolen from the grandmother? Kid
may not be getting any of Granma's good down home cooking for awhile

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech
"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 00:34:02 -0400, "W P Dixon"
wrote in
::

The felony would be theft of something with the value of over 2,500 bucks.

If you're referring to this:

Section 13A-7-21
Criminal mischief in the first degree.
(a) A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the first
degree if, with intent to damage property, and having no right to
do so or any reasonable ground to believe that he or she has such
a right, he or she inflicts damages to property:

(1) In an amount exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500); or ...

the DA would have to convince a jury that the 14 year old had *intent*
to damage the aircraft. I doubt that that was the 14 year old's
intent; after all, if he had wanted to damage the aircraft he could
have done so by means other than taking it aloft.

What motivation would the 14 year old have had to intend damage to the
aircraft? I find it far more likely, that he wanted to experience
flight not inflect damage.