Couldn’t happen to a nicer fella:
Alec Baldwin to be charged with involuntary manslaughter in ‘Rust’ film shooting
The argument seems to be that Baldwin was screwing around and negligently fired the weapon. However, it also seems to be the case that he was given a gun and told by the armorer that it was not loaded. Assuming those, I’m dubious that a solid legal case can be made against him. The prop master is in serious trouble (and is also charged), no doubt, but Baldwin was told it was safe. That said: I’m never, EVER trusting a weapon to be unloaded and safe until such time as I have personally inspected it. Do I trust the person handing me the weapon? Quite possible. But “trust” has a hell of a time stacking up against “oops, I accidentally shot myself/someone else.”
So jail time for Baldwin? I’m uncertain. A massive fortune-thinning lawsuit? Oh yeah. Kind of a given.
4 responses to “Alec Baldwin back in the news”
It’s a sobering story. When you think of all the things that had to go wrong, and reflect that if one person involved had done their job properly, nobody would have been hurt.
Not a lawyer at all, but I suspect the prosecution’s case is going to rest on what ‘a reasonable person’ would have done in Baldwin’s situation prior to the tragedy. I agree that the armorer is ultimately responsible, but anyone who’s taken a basic firearms safety course knows that Rule #1 is that You Treat The Gun As If It’s Loaded, No Matter What.
Thus, Baldwin’s defense will probably try to frame that ‘reasonable person’ stance as if it’s some ideal that only elite special forces can hope to attain. What’s going to hurt him is the sheer number of movies he’s starred in where he’s wielded firearms. Somehow his lawyers need to convince the jury that at no time during any of these movies was he ever taught basic gun safety.
Which is, I admit, entirely possible. But if true it’s a huge indictment of the movie industry. Well, the biggest one this week at least.
Another case the prosecution can make is that Baldwin has in the past been a vocal supporter of gun control. Now as we all know, celebrities are world-class experts in the fields of activism they take up and are certainly not brainless knee-jerk reactionary hypocrites, so he clearly knew all the ins and outs of firearms and thus has no excuse of “ignorance.”
In seriousness, though, I don’t think the guy who actually pulled the trigger on Brandon Lee was charged. In that case the revolved had a bullet lodged int he barrel and a blank sent it on its way; that tragedy could have been averted had the actor checked his firearm prior to “action.” But I guess actors just assume the armorer knows what they’re doing. Sometimes people get it wrong.
What a world where I actually feel sympathy for Alex Baldwin.
As giant a douche as he is, this charge is BS. The set is a managed environment with the performers just the end point. Yes, the armorer should have been charged and possibly a couple of others, but as Scott M said, so much had to go wrong for this to happen.
WTF was live ammo doing on set anyway?