Sound, Fury but No Charges

Steve Sun will not be hauled into court for tapping into the soundtrack of an airborne movie with his own headphones.

An “issue of jurisdiction” led the city attorney’s office to decide not to file a theft charge against the Los Angeles tax lawyer, said Mike Qualls, spokesman for the city attorney’s office.

Sun admitted he didn’t pony up the $4 for a headset to listen to the film “Presumed Innocent” shown aboard a United Air Lines flight from Washington to Los Angeles a week ago. But Qualls said “it has to be provable that it happened over California airspace.”

A flight attendant told Sun he couldn’t listen to the film soundtrack with his own headphones unless he paid the fee. Sun refused and told her that if anything untoward happened on the ground, he would sue.

When the plane landed, Los Angeles International Airport police were waiting to handcuff Sun as a United pilot made a citizen’s arrest. The charge: theft of the movie’s soundtrack.

Sun was detained briefly then released, pending a decision by the city attorney’s office.

A United spokesman said last week the $4 charge is for the audio track, not literally for headphones.

Sun has not ruled out some civil action in the matter. Since a Times story detailed his arrest, he has had a full dance card of interviews and talk shows, he said.

“In general, it seems to have tapped a vein of resentment against the airlines,” he said Friday. “There’s the normal group of people thinking it’s incredibly cheap that I wouldn’t pay $4, or I’m a natural-born troublemaker because I wouldn’t obey the stewardess. There’s no question those were two options open to me. I’d say in general people feel the conduct of the airline was outrageous.”

A United spokesman in Chicago said he was unaware of any changes made in the in-flight announcement concerning headphone rentals in the wake of Sun’s arrest.