Probably not.
Seems like he was really bad at his job.
As I pointed out, Baldwin may have had training instructing him to always have whoever hands it to him show him personally that it isn’t loaded with live rounds. If he went ahead anyway and had that training…
Baldwin has probably had some sort of firearms training. I think he has been in situation on film where he has fired a weapon before.
He could also have taken the word of the AD because a lot of times that is how it works.
I don’t see him at fault in his role of an actor. That would fall on the Armorer, the AD and whoever the sociopath was that had live rounds on that set.
Baldwin as a producer holds responsibility.
I know that it is weird thing to parse out… but remember… I work in the industry and there is a wide gulf between what people say they should be doing and what actually happens on set.
Absolutely not, if he had that instruction there is no other word than negligent to describe his behavior.
These are all industry best practices, not criminal laws.
A person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offense when he should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor’s failure to perceive it, considering the nature and purpose of his conduct and the circumstances known to him, involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor’s situation.
From the Model Penal Code. Just a coincidence they use the term “actor”.
You can use whatever words you’d like, but I’ll point out again that New Mexico’s manslaughter law doesn’t use the word “negligence.”
I would guess that as a producer, Baldwin has significant civil liability.
But it’s very unlikely he has any criminal liability.
I mean…technically he can (and should) be charged with involuntary man slaughter, but I can’t imagine the agony he is feeling after this. Why would I want to extend someone’s pain further?
Just…the fact that he killed an innocent, but he didn’t mean to, but this person is still dead; her family and friends lost a loved one. But it was all a mistake, but if he had been more careful, none of this would have happened. I guess it’s similar to combat PTSD in the military where, you may have accidentally shot someone or forced to kill them. I would never wish this on anyone.
The feeling of guilt alone would drive anyone to doing bad things, mainly to oneself. And the anxiety. Not to mention this is someone who Alec probably knew well being in the industry, so a good colleague. I do hope he gets some support.
In other words, I would be for charging him with involuntary manslaughter, but there are mitigating factors here, so I would probably spare him jail time or give him a lighter sentence out of mercy.
Yep… I would place him into having civil liability. Criminal… not so much.
The last big story where a crew member got killed was Sarah Jones. That was absolute negligence and people went to jail for that.
You will still see “Safety for Sarah” on sets even though safety on sets is like the last thing people are concerned with.
I say no. I say this is on the armorer. The people responsible for hiring her, maybe for wrongful hiring.
Actors are stupid. They have to be baby-proofed.
Whoever let live ammo on a movie set needs to be punished.
If he received training like that, he was informed and did not act reasonably or with care.
I would be for that as well. Alec does not have the lion’s share of the blame. Some, but certainly a minority.
Still there are mitigating circumstances. He truly didn’t know and it wasn’t necessarily his job to check. He maybe had been told that everything was safe. Then there is remorse.
If you think Baldwin has normal human feelings, you haven’t listened to the tape of him berating his daughter.
2 Likes
But that’s not the question.
Did he grossly deviate from the standard of care?
Honestly I haven’t. I don’t know a whole lot about him, other than his podcast or he was a guest on one at one point.
This is what happens when you have ignorant Hoplophobia playing with real guns even if they’re using guns are being used as prop.
2 Likes
Certainly the armorer and the AD who handed th gun off bear responsibility.
but is hearing ‘cold gun’ enough? Or should the actor watch for themselves that it is not loaded?
Maybe that’s asking too much, and attaching liability like that would keep people out of the game?
Tough one.
Is there no union standard for fire arm handling?
@Jezcoe ?
I’m familiar with that story, and the criminal negligence that lead to her death.
You’ve never yelled at a loved one in anger?
