The state of New York has decided that volunteering to die in exchange for Uma Thurman's devotion is not a chargeable offense.
A Manhattan judge on Wednesday dismissed a felony charge of attempted coercion against Jack Jordan, a former psychiatric patient who was arrested in October for allegedly stalking the Kill Bill star and making repeated attempts to contact her and her family.
Defense attorney George Vonvolakis argued that an email his 36-year-old client sent to Thurman, in which he threatened to kill himself if he saw her with another man, did not amount to coercion because the letter wasn't likely to have any effect on the actress.
Prosecutors maintained Jordan's message was a definite attempt to limit Thurman's freedom, but New York State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro agreed with the defense.
"If you would like to kill yourself, it is not chargeable," Carro said. If convicted, the felony charge could have landed Jordan in prison for up to four years.
Jordan, who was enrolled as a master's candidate at Mills College in Oakland, California, at the time of his arrest, is still facing two misdemeanor counts of stalking and harassment. The University of Chicago graduate, class of 1994, has pleaded not guilty to both.
He rejected a plea deal last month that would have let him avoid jail altogether by copping to stalking and attempted coercion and entering a mental-health facility. Vonvolakis said at the time that Jordan would consider treatment if he could plead to misdemeanors instead of a felony, and he reiterated Wednesday that he hoped another deal could be reached.
"He has a bright future," the attorney told reporters outside the courthouse. "He wants to be a teacher. With a criminal record, he can't do that."
Carro scheduled a trial date of Feb. 5.
Vonvolakis said that, if the case goes to trial, Thurman will likely be called to testify. "My client has expressed a serious desire to go to trial," he said.
If Jordan cuts the deal his attorney has in mind, it would mark his second stay at a psychiatric hospital since taking a fancy to Thurman.
His family had him involuntarily committed after he attempted to get into the Oscar-nominated actress' trailer on the Manhattan set of a film in 2005. Jordan claims that he had driven cross-country to see her.
"We are meant to be together," he said in a statement to police following his arrest. "She is a wonderful person."
According to authorities, Jordan persisted in trying to contact the star after his release, sending her and her father numerous emails in 2006 and appearing outside her Greenwich Village home three to four times a week last August, in an attempt to either see her or deliver letters.
Jordan is currently free on $10,000 bail and reportedly living at his family's Massachusetts home. Per the terms of his release, he is prohibited from contacting Thurman or her family.