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Original poster

Alec Baldwin to be charged with involuntary manslaughter

132 replies

Harrysfrostbittentodger · 19/01/2023 16:13

Prosecutors have announced they will file criminal charges against Hollywood star and producer Alec Baldwin following the death of Halyna Hutchins in 2021. The cinematographer died after a prop gun held by Baldwin was discharged during rehearsals for the western film Rust.

The film's armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for weapons on set, is also facing the same charge over the fatal shooting, while assistant director David Halls has signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.

OP posts:
lemmein · 19/01/2023 19:38

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 19:37

but I can’t fathom how a custodial sentence would be of any benefit to anyone

It would act as a deterrent to future film producers - not to point a gun, live or not, at a person.

I would think what happened to that poor woman would be deterrent enough tbh!

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 19:40

I would think what happened to that poor woman would be deterrent enough tbh!

But you could say that about all 'accidental' crimes. Where do you draw the line? I do feel that people should be held accountable for their negligent behaviour

Daftasabroom · 19/01/2023 19:43

WetBandits · 19/01/2023 19:35

The whole situation is awful. I wouldn’t have expected a live weapon to be handed to me as a prop, either. I wouldn’t even know how to check if it was loaded or not!

I can see how Halyna’s family want someone to be held accountable as they have lost a mother, partner, daughter, but I can’t fathom how a custodial sentence would be of any benefit to anyone as this was essentially a tragic accident. Baldwin doesn’t strike me as a dangerous menace to society; I doubt he will ever handle a gun, loaded or not, again in his life after this.

There are situations where cases of negligence that lead to such tragic consequences, which I believe this to be, should be punished as much as a deterrent as anything else.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 19/01/2023 19:44

The bit I don't understand is that there's no charges, and apparently are not going to be, relating to the injury of Joel Souza in the same incident. Surely if there's evidence to support charging for involuntary manslaughter, the same evidence should be applicable to the injury caused to Souza?

Hoppinggreen · 19/01/2023 19:45

We had a few guns when I was a kid, mostly air rifles.
My Father wasn’t the strictest or most safety conscious aren’t but he was very strong on one thing - you never point a gun at someone, even if you think it’s not loaded.
DS has a few BB guns (targets only) and he lost them for a month when he pointed an unloaded one at his sister.
You just don’t point guns at anyone

OneFrenchEgg · 19/01/2023 19:53

www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/01/19/alec-baldwin-to-be-charged-in-fatal-rust-shooting.html

This is quite a good overview

Daftasabroom · 19/01/2023 19:54

Hoppinggreen · 19/01/2023 19:45

We had a few guns when I was a kid, mostly air rifles.
My Father wasn’t the strictest or most safety conscious aren’t but he was very strong on one thing - you never point a gun at someone, even if you think it’s not loaded.
DS has a few BB guns (targets only) and he lost them for a month when he pointed an unloaded one at his sister.
You just don’t point guns at anyone

I remember a horrific case years ago where a small child shot themselves or a sibling in ear ear with an air pistol.

Bigweekend · 19/01/2023 20:03

Whattaboutit · 19/01/2023 16:16

I can’t think that any other outcome would be acceptable. He was in charge and he didn’t have control of a situation where lethal weapons were being used. And he fired the gun knowing this.

Isn't that what he'd say? How/why was there a bullet in the gun and how/why should have expected that there would be?

It seemed a very odd statement from the prosecutor to me.

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:06

Isn't that what he'd say? How/why was there a bullet in the gun and how/why should have expected that there would be?

It's because he pointed the gun at a person and pulled the trigger!

It doesn't matter whether it's loaded or not. He was not allowed to point ANY gun at a person and pull the trigger.

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:08

In other words, one should always assume any gun IS loaded. Saying you didn't think it was loaded is no excuse. He behaved negligently

AutumnLeaves5 · 19/01/2023 20:10

Ultimately it was negligence that caused this and the state has determined that there’s enough evidence to let a jury decide if the negligence led to the poor womens death and if either Baldwin or the armorer were responsible for that negligence.

The running of the film sounds like it was being badly managed, with crew walking out for H&S concerns, live bullets being found in multiple places when there should have been none on set, checks on the gun not being carried out - including by Baldwin when it was given to him, pointing the gun at a person and pulling the trigger. If Baldwin, as a producer and the actor, or the armorer has done their jobs properly this likely wouldn’t have happened.

Baldwin also did those awful media interviews after the shooting saying he wouldn’t be charged and admitting that he had years of firearms experience/safety training…I’ve had no experience or safety training but still know not to point a gun at anyone and to assume it was live.

mathanxiety · 19/01/2023 20:11

I think it's harsh.

Is the prosecutor saying he needs to do everyone else's job on any given set?

Iam4eels · 19/01/2023 20:12

Having my kind of loaded weapon on a film set is a recipe for disaster and the chain of responsibility has too much potential to break down. I would hope that the one thing to come out of this tragedy is changes to the regulations about using weapons in productions. Realistic replicas incapable of ever firing exist and should be used intead. For example the guns used in air soft shooting ranges look and feel exactly like the real thing, they're even weighted like the real thing but all that's inside is electronics, you couldn't fit a bullet into one if you tried.

Bigweekend · 19/01/2023 20:12

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:06

Isn't that what he'd say? How/why was there a bullet in the gun and how/why should have expected that there would be?

It's because he pointed the gun at a person and pulled the trigger!

It doesn't matter whether it's loaded or not. He was not allowed to point ANY gun at a person and pull the trigger.

I admit I haven't read the detail but I thought he claimed he didn't "fire" it, it misfired. And don't they usually point guns at people when filming scenes that require it?

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:15

I admit I haven't read the detail but I thought he claimed he didn't "fire" it, it misfired.

According to the FBI he lies and had to have pulled the trigger

And don't they usually point guns at people when filming scenes that require it?

Apparently you are not allowed to point it at a person

Iam4eels · 19/01/2023 20:17

mathanxiety · 19/01/2023 20:11

I think it's harsh.

Is the prosecutor saying he needs to do everyone else's job on any given set?

He was a producer so, in a standard workplace, would be the manager. He has a legal responsibility for things like safety, safeguarding, etc and a duty to step in when rules are not being followed. Other crew/staff might have individual responsibilities but he oversees it all.

From what I've read, there were lots of issues around safety on the set, he was aware controls were not being adhered to, and there were missed opportunities to improve safety standard that might have prevented this from occurring. He himself should never have pointed the gun at anyone precisely because one of the fundamental rules of gun safety is that "there is no such thing as an unloaded gun".

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:18

From the article that someone linked below

Baldwin said he "didn't pull the trigger" in an ABC intervieww. An FBI forensic reportt obtained by ABC News uncovered that despite Baldwin's denial, the gun could not have gone off without the trigger being pulled.

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:19

Is the prosecutor saying he needs to do everyone else's job on any given set?

He needs to do his job correctly, namely not to point a gun at a person and pull the trigger.

It doesn't matter whether the gun was loaded or not

MrsTerryPratchett · 19/01/2023 20:23

Hollywood has fed us a lot of lies about how people handle guns.

If you have a gun and you want to pass it to someone (not on a filmset) you would check it wasn't loaded, normally put it down, facing down range, the other person would pick it up, check AGAIN it wasn't loaded, all the time not pointing it anywhere but down range (towards the target, away from people). You might pass it to the other person if there's not a table but even if you did, everyone checks. Even if two people have checked it's not loaded no one ever points it at anyone. Your finger should be always off the trigger unless you are actively shooting, and come off every time you are not actively shooting. Again, even if you've checked it isn't loaded.

Anyone who knows anything wouldn't point any firearm at someone and pull the trigger! He behaved against every safety protocol of firearms never mind the additional safety protocols on film sets.

If the jury has half a brain between them they will see how irresponsible and unsafe he was.

OneFrenchEgg · 19/01/2023 20:26

www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/arts/rust-shooting-charges-alec-baldwin.html

This one is a bit more detailed, nothing on the lack of charges for the other person.

Tbh his whole public defence on shows and to reporters with his wife posting tone deaf 'happy family' and 'I will be there for you' type photos makes it hard for me to find any sympathy for his predicament.

MrsTerryPratchett · 19/01/2023 20:26

This is where your finger should be. Not on the trigger.

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:27

Completely agree with you @MrsTerryPratchett

Baldwin looks even worse because he's trying to lie about it, claiming he didn't pull the trigger! Thankfully the FBI disapproved that.

MrsTerryPratchett · 19/01/2023 20:35

Pinkdafodils · 19/01/2023 20:27

Completely agree with you @MrsTerryPratchett

Baldwin looks even worse because he's trying to lie about it, claiming he didn't pull the trigger! Thankfully the FBI disapproved that.

Good for the FBI.

It's utterly arrogant and mendacious of him.

Andanotherone01 · 19/01/2023 20:47

Tamarindtree · 19/01/2023 19:31

My dream is that he’s found guilty and after the verdict is read out, Baldwin about to explode with rage is suddenly stunned into silence by the appearance of Trump standing up in the courtroom and slow clapping as Baldwin is led out past his wife Hilary, who screeches in her fake Spanish accent, ‘I wanna a deeee-vorce and Imma take you to the cleeeeaners!’

And then he gets to share his cell with a right wing extremist who laughs at Baldwin’s Liberal tears every single day.

🤣👏🏻

gravyriceandchips · 19/01/2023 20:52

So as an actor he fired a gun he was made to think was safe.

Who loaded that gun?

Had he checked the weapon before hand how would he have known of the buckets were real or dummy bullets?

I am ex forces from a long time ago but of someone handed me a weapon the drill was to ensure it was made safe. I can't ever recall being shown how to determine if a round was blank or real until fired.