Not even the first time someone was shot on a set with a prop gun. Actor Brandon Lee was killed by a prop gun, years before the 'Rust' shooting death
There was another guy that killed himself on a TV show set by holding a prop gun with a blank in it to his head and pulling the trigger, even though there was no projectile, it still fractured his skull and lodged bone fragments in his brain. He was brain dead and the family decided to pull the plug on him a few days later.
Although blanks aren't lethal like live ammunition they're still capable of doing a lot of damage at close range. The poor guy was incredibly ignorant and paid for the ignorance with his life.
Boy do I know about that. I wore a bad burn scar on my stomach for about 40 years due to a Pirate in the DeSoto parade shooting me in the stomach with one of their black powder blank guns when I was a kid. In today's world I probably would have walked away from that a millionaire.
Charges have already been reduced, went from a minimum of 5 years to maximum of 18 months, if convicted .... https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/20/alec-baldwins-rust-manslaughter-charges-downgraded.html
I haven't looked into it in detail but based upon a couple things I saw yesterday the right seems to be suggesting he got a break while the left is saying the prosecutor over-charged to begin with because the new firearm enhancement law wasn't even in effect when this incident occurred. I guess none of us are surprised that it's a bit of a political football.
Hall — the Assistant Director who was supposed to check the gun, handed the gun to Baldwin, and yelled “cold gun” — plead guilty today. His punishment wasn’t much… “The New Mexico judge overseeing the “Rust” case sentenced Halls to six months of unsupervised probation, a $500 fine and 24 hours of community service.” https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/31/rust-assistant-director-pleads-guilty-gun-charge.html
Is that over, too? The tweet states: In October 2022, Hutchins’ family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the film’s producers and other crew members, including Baldwin.
The MAGAts that were so excited about the prospect of Baldwin going to jail for this will have to find a new source for excitement. Maybe someone will turn around in their driveways while they are standing watch with their AR-15s.
Liberal actor Alec Baldwin accidently and possibly carelessly shoots someone and the right wing calls for his imprisonment. Conservative racist Daniel Perry intentionally shoots someone and the right wing calls for his pardon. The party of Law and Disorder, the GOP ladies and gentlemen.
"The case against Baldwin will likely not survive both a motion to dismiss and a motion for judgement of acquittal." It didn't even get that far, dismissal was the correct result for a case that had no business being filed.
I am not a lawyer so my opinion isn’t worth much but I think this was handled right. Charge early and dismiss as the facts are known. That gives the family some immediate closure. Lets society know it’s being taken seriously but it’s hard to find Baldwin did anything wrong. The armorer and the assistant director were to blame here. My guess is that the armorer never works again.
John Q Public doesn't get to be the lead in filmed Hollywood productions. This was always the responsibility of the gun handler on set not any actor.