Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was the armorer on the film "Rust," was also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
100% deserved, since she was directly responsible for putting a loaded gun in Alec Baldwin's hand when it was literally her job to make sure that could not happen.
lawyer: "Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds."
It's true that Alec Baldwin didn't know. Now let's apply that to the law:
NM Stat § 30-2-3 (2019) B. Involuntary manslaughter consists of manslaughter committed in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to felony, or in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death in an unlawful manner or without due caution and circumspection.
Even if Alec Baldwin did not know there were live rounds in the gun, it was a possibility that the gun might be in some way dangerous (such as with Brandon Lee's death), so it was negligent for him to aim the gun directly at the woman and pull the trigger, particularly when the scene did not call for him to do anything of that nature. Basic caution and safety would demand that he at least point the gun in a slightly different direction, not directly at another person, when firing it. Alec Baldwin also did not check the gun himself before firing it while aiming directly at another human being.
The charges are justified. involuntary manslaughter doesn't require knowledge or intent, it is effectively negligent homicide.
Analogous situation is two actors with safety harnesses guaranteed by professional safety people messing around between scenes and one falls off to his death. It's dumb to rely on it unnecessarily, but not the pusher's fault that he should have checked the safety harnesses before horsing around; it was guaranteed.
The problem for prosecutors is that shooting an unloaded gun isn't "a lawful act which might produce death". The armorer assumed the responsibility by certifying it as an unloaded gun, unless somebody else loaded the gun after Baldwin got it. It's not the same situation as your friend handing you the gun and saying it's unloaded - he's not a professional making a promise you should be able to rely on.
Baldwin should be charged with purposely inflicting emotional distress for pointing the gun at somebody or like that, unless the facts show him aware it was loaded.
The "I didn't know it was loaded" defense doesn't work for John Doe. Why should it work for famous actors who should have been taught how to handle firearms decades ago?
100% deserved, since she was directly responsible for putting a loaded gun in Alec Baldwin's hand when it was literally her job to make sure that could not happen.
It's true that Alec Baldwin didn't know. Now let's apply that to the law:
Even if Alec Baldwin did not know there were live rounds in the gun, it was a possibility that the gun might be in some way dangerous (such as with Brandon Lee's death), so it was negligent for him to aim the gun directly at the woman and pull the trigger, particularly when the scene did not call for him to do anything of that nature. Basic caution and safety would demand that he at least point the gun in a slightly different direction, not directly at another person, when firing it. Alec Baldwin also did not check the gun himself before firing it while aiming directly at another human being.
The charges are justified. involuntary manslaughter doesn't require knowledge or intent, it is effectively negligent homicide.
Analogous situation is two actors with safety harnesses guaranteed by professional safety people messing around between scenes and one falls off to his death. It's dumb to rely on it unnecessarily, but not the pusher's fault that he should have checked the safety harnesses before horsing around; it was guaranteed.
The problem for prosecutors is that shooting an unloaded gun isn't "a lawful act which might produce death". The armorer assumed the responsibility by certifying it as an unloaded gun, unless somebody else loaded the gun after Baldwin got it. It's not the same situation as your friend handing you the gun and saying it's unloaded - he's not a professional making a promise you should be able to rely on.
Baldwin should be charged with purposely inflicting emotional distress for pointing the gun at somebody or like that, unless the facts show him aware it was loaded.
The "I didn't know it was loaded" defense doesn't work for John Doe. Why should it work for famous actors who should have been taught how to handle firearms decades ago?
I just said why, because a professional certified it. Works for John Doe as well.
Go bungie jumping and the harness comes off, your family can't sue because you killed yourself by not testing the safety equipment? That's crazy.