Posted on 03/15/2023 7:08:17 AM PDT by KC Burke
Alec Baldwin has just won another scuffle with the Santa Fe District Attorney in the criminal case over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.
Less than two weeks before a New Mexico court hearing on a motion by the actor’s legal team to disqualify the special prosecutor, the special prosecutor herself suddenly has quit the high-profile case.
{ SNIP }
(Excerpt) Read more at deadline.com ...
I understand your point about the stipulated Safety Officer being last to handle a weapon. If I was in Baldwin’s place I would have wanted to observe the weapon being prepared for an In-your-face rehearsal.
Well he’s also the producer, which makes him the “buck stop” for any on set incident. And he pulled the trigger. Really this is a pretty easy manslaughter case, I don’t understand why they even needed a special prosecutor.
Because you are suppose to consider all guns live until you have checked them personally.
He knew that.
He refused to attend the class on safety on this set but he did attend on other sets.
So he knew.
Had a blast shield on the camera but not on the people.
Somehow managed to shoot two people without any trouble.
The last two points are just interesting. The first two make it murder.
Her job was to prevent any fatal encounter. She was personally responsible for controlling all weapons at all times, as well as loading and unloading them. She did not do that.
If Baldwin prevented her from doing that job, she should have immediately resigned and walked off the set. She stayed and allowed bad behavior to continue. Other crew members did resign and walk off the set that very morning of the incident, citing repeated violations of safety protocols as one of the reasons.
She was young and stupid, ignoring safety protocols in an inherently dangerous situation. That put her in first position for the criminal negligence that led to a homicide. The Assistant Director was cowardly and stupid. He had no training or experience as a Weapons Handler and should never have touched any firearms on that set. The Armorer should not have permitted him to do so. Handing an unchecked weapon to an Actor puts him in second position for criminal negligence.
Actors are assumed to have the ability of trained chimpanzees and are never supposed to handle a live firearm on any set. Nor are they allowed to dictate terms to the Armorer or Weapons Handler. Baldwin's main defense ("the gun fired itself") is complete bullshit, but his secondary defense ("they told me it was a cold weapon") has some merit. That is the way the movie system is supposed to work.
Except that Baldwin was a Producer as well as an Actor and had a responsibility to see that standard safety protocols were observed and enforced. He did not do that job.
Depends on how you define “justice”. He will get community service. That’s it.
As I stated in my first response, a lot of folks don’t know the basics of handling firearms.
Movies, Hollywood, Washington D.C. aren’t special places with different basic handling protocols.
You treat every firearm as loaded, you never point a firearm at something you don’t intend to shoot.
Baldwin, as the end user had a responsibility to check the firearm. He is not absolved of this responsibility because he’s an actor.
It really is that simple.
There seems to be a variety of accounts of what lead up to the event and what people did and did not do. A trial will sort that out but if we were doing bets on contributory negligence, Baldwin gets 67% in my book at this point.
Oh yes, they are. You could not film any kind of action movie involving weapons, without some very different handling protocols.
You treat every firearm as loaded; you never point a firearm at something you don’t intend to shoot.
And that right there is the big difference. In movies, the actors frequently point firearms at other people and pretend to shoot them. That is the whole point of the movie. No, they don't intend to shoot them. At least we hope not. That is the entire reason for "Industry Safety Rule #1".
That same behavior in any other context would get a person kicked out of a range or hauled away to jail.
Different rules for different circumstances.
Too bad you never looked into all this, then you would know why he was responsible for shooting those people.
You need to look into the actual facts of using guns in movies rather than speculating.
Thank you. I admit perfect ignorance when it comes to New Mexico's legal system. Most places would call that the prosecuting attorney I believe.
“Seems to me the justice system is working just fine.”
Baldwin recklessly killed a woman who worked for him. The hubris that led to this seems to remain unabated.
“Would you want less if you were facing charges.”
Clearly, the effectiveness of the defense is often proportional to the size of the defendant’s bank account.
So, sure. I’d love to have access to millions to defend myself, especially if I was the target of malicious prosecution for political or similar reasons.
But that’s not the case here. No one is conspiring against Baldwin. He got himself where he is.
This should result in prison time and the end of his film career.
My opinions are derived from experience rather than speculation.
Video productions?
Are these Hollywood movies with union actors, union rules and such?
If I may interject something about Safety Rules. State and Federal OSHA take precedent. Union and Employer groups can agree to a set of rules, the industry in a state may adopt them regardless of if the worksite is completely union or not but then OSHA still trumps that by ADDING TO those rules not by eliminating them.
“Gun safety on movie sets? States mostly follow guidelines set by studios, unions”
(snip)
“Despite some industry reforms following previous tragedies, the federal workplace safety agency in the U.S. is silent on the issue of on-set gun safety. And most of the preferred states for film and TV productions take a largely hands-off approach.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2021/10/23/22741990/gun-safety-rules-movie-sets-state-regulations-brandon-lee-alec-baldwin-rust-accidental-shooting
“There’s no specific OSHA regime for film and TV shoots; instead, they’re subject to the same regulations that apply to most other industries, such as rules for noise, fire prevention, construction safety and personal protective equipment.
Notably, OSHA recommends but does not require film shoots to have a written safety plan for their sites. According to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union that represents film and TV crews”
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-10-28/safety-problems-on-set-here-are-some-ways-to-find-help
I think anything beyond lowest homicide charge is silly overcharging
Y’all can yell all u like
He had no inkling and had been given prop guns for decades assumed inspected by the firearms master
Or Mistress in this case
This is on her and the owners of the film
Producers and equity peeps
Plus one
It’s always torches and pitchforks here
Okay, but we’re dancing around the heart of the issue.
Did Baldwin kill one and injure another, with a loaded gun?
Did he intend to kill and injure?
Those two answers determine what charges should be filed against him. Actor, CEO, pilot, or street thug, same questions and answers.
I don’t believe he intended the act, but I do believe he’s guilty of the first. He was the one holding the gun, and therefore the end user, responsible for checking the weapon.
Especially, in light of the reports that there were other incidents of careless firearm handling on that very movie location, just days before.
Same procedure every day, everywhere. Check the weapon, it’s your responsibility. It’s that simple.
Non-union productions. We followed union rules as much as possible.
Followed all the safety rules. Saves a lot of trouble.
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