Reply to Alec Baldwin now charged with involuntary manslaughter by New Mexico authorities

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Lawyer here. It's frustrating to see the cycle of coverage without any serious independent analysis of whether this prosecutor could secure a conviction. In my view, it's a chargeable case, but securing a conviction is very unlikely. The prosecutor needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was criminally negligent with respect to the death. That's a very high standard, higher than ordinary negligence.

One theory of the case is that he should be liable because he pointed and shot the gun. But everybody agrees that he genuinely thought the gun was unloaded and entirely safe—they were rehearsing. In other words, he didn't think he was holding a deadly weapon at all, just a piece of metal. Gun safety adages are good and important, and I entirely agree with the principles about never pointing a weapon at anyone and verifying a weapon is unloaded yourself. But was failing to follow those principles, when he had been specifically told the gun was safe, could not check it himself, was pointing as directed for the scene, and didn't believe he was pulling the trigger, so outrageously unreasonable? In effect, a conviction here would convert gun safety best practices into criminal law under pretty much all circumstances. That would be unprecedented.

The other theory of the case is that he was negligent as a producer. But he was one of several producers and the production hired a professional to handle gun safety. It's tough to believe that his oversight of the production, under the circumstances, was so outrageously bad as to constitute a crime. The usual rule is that if there's intervening negligence, you're not liable.

I do think there's a much better case for the charge about negligence with respect to handling the gun (rather than the death). That's what someone already pleaded guilty to.[/quote]

This is the correct answer. For those of you who can't see it, why don't you pretend that Chris Pratt accidentally shot someone on The Terminal List or Kevin Costner accidentally shot someone on Yellowstone. Do the different politics of the actor/show help put things into perspective for you? Also, anyone with entertainment industry knowledge will know that big-name actors often secure producer credits as part of their compensation for appearing in the movie or show. Just like Sarah Jessica Parker wasn't really the mastermind behind Sex and The City - she is an actor who appeared in it and, once the show was a hit, had lots of leverage so that her agent/lawyer could get her an executive producer credit on the show. [/quote]

So getting additional credit shouldn't come with additional responsibility? Nice.[/quote]

Additional financial responsibility.  He was not in charge of hiring the armorer, or firing her.  [/quote]

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