Posted on 03/15/2023 7:08:17 AM PDT by KC Burke
My question: If the prosecution was competent, why did it take so long to bring charges?
And Baldwin is a famous leftist supporter. He will be exempted from the usual penalties.
“Well SOB, the prosecutor got fired”
2) O. J. Simpson
3) Robert Blake
Ain’t that the truth.
The things money can buy now days.
It’s a big party and your not in it.
Perhaps they were negotiating bribes and the deals fell through? Just a nasty speculation, for which I have no evidence. But it might be worth taking a look, if only to "clear their names".
My preferred assessment is that the DA office is filled with incompetent people who get by on plea-bargains for slam-dunk cases against criminals who cannot afford good defense lawyers. They could not decide what to do with a celebrity case who could get high-powered lawyers and publicity agents to mount an aggressive defense.
Guess you don’t understand guns, or the proper handling of them.
The person holding the gun is responsible for any damage that might be caused by firing it. It’s that simple.
Why would this case require a “special” prosecutor?
Does Baldwin have some kind of governmental authority that I don’t know about, or does acting make them special?
“incompetent people who get by on plea-bargains for slam-dunk cases against criminals who cannot afford good defense lawyers”
Unhappily, I believe you are right.
It is not "that simple".
We have 100 years of "action movies" in which actors point firearms at other people and pretend to shoot them. It is an inherently dangerous activity, and the film industry has developed elaborate safety rules to prevent injuries or deaths during this activity. Those rules work - when they are followed.
They weren't followed on the set of Rust. There was a long chain of failures by multiple people that lead to a fatal outcome.
The "79 rules" of "Industry Safety Bulletin #1" have a much better record than the "4 Rules of Gun Safety".
In that context, Baldwin was third in line for at-fault behavior, well behind the gross negligence of the Assistant Director and the Armorer.
Whether New Mexico law will consider any of that is an open question. That is what expensive defense lawyers are for.
That can be explained with a little background knowledge.
First of all, all of us that have had any familiarization with the usage of "blank" ammunition know that it can kill. Especially close up. Just Vietnam era basic training, where we used blanks, had that drummed into our heads. The discharge of the primer/powder propulsion explosion against minimal paper wadding (that holds the power in place) produces enough force to penetrate a human body. At 25 yards and not in a soft spot, perhaps you are okay, but don't bet on it.
Safety training on set for this movie and others would have provided basic explanation of this and other special considerations and such training is Mandatory in movies with weapons on set. Ergo, Baldwin had been told this multiple times over decades of work.
Next. Baldwin was the Producer as well as star. He hired and fired everyone and ran the set. He ran off the young woman Armorer and cut rules, perhaps because he was indulging horseplay with weapons on off hours.
LASTLY, when you pic up a weapon, even one from an armorer or their substitute (in this case the assistant director) you as the trained weapons handler know to [1] check the weapon and its loads, [2] never fire blanks near someone, [3] understand the firing action, and [4] never point a weapon loaded with anything at anyone.
Baldwin violated all those rules and killed his cinematographer through gross negligence. It was entirely his fault in a dozen ways.
Good point about the actual governing safety bulletin. Here it is:
https://www.csatf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/01FIREARMS.pdf
One thing that I think will come out at trial is the the armorer (working for the Property Master) was an apprentice or newly trained young woman. As Producer and/or in-charge on the set, Baldwin had previously dismissed her from her duties as he disliked her input. She was not involved in the fatal encounter.
My suspicion is that he was allowing firearm extracurricular activities and she was upset. A live round from staff horseplay usage was left in the weapon and bone head Baldwin had the trigger depressed as he was making out his acting.
You can make it as complicated as you wish, but what I said still stands.
The final user, in this case Baldwin, is the one responsible, both morally, and legally.
Others may have contributed to the negligence, but Baldwin shot the two people. It’s that simple.
I think perhaps that term applies to the prosecutor that is selected from State Prosecutors office to actually be in charge at a particular trial.
Baldwin will get the best outcome money can buy instead of what he deserves. If this had been an ordinary person they would have already been serving their sentence.
As we saw recently in the Murdaugh case, sometimes the area law enforcement and court system is aware of and working against the giant titans of power.
Murdaugh and his family had ruled that multi-county state district court system for over 100 years. He got the trial in the same district. The State AG, his staff, and a local judge gave him a fair but stern trial.
Perhaps NM, like the people of both Parties in South Carolina, will make this happen correctly.
No it is not that simple.
Movies, use of force and force on force classes.
All have safety prodigals that do not have the person using the gun. Checking it.
The safety personnel do not want a person screwing around with a weapon they have declared safe.
If you let the person using it screw with it. You are introducing another factor that you do not have control of as a safety person.
If the safety prodigals were not followed it is not the end users responsibility.
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