And this happened almost 4 months ago?

With the number of witnesses and the fact that it was filmed, how long will this take? Shoot someone on the street in front of witnesses and you'll be up for sentencing by now.

The fact that it's taking so long to file charges, especially when the basic facts of the incident are not very much in dispute, suggests that the prosecutors can't figure out who to charge with what crime, in such a way they can actually get a conviction, especially given that the defendants have the money to hire top end defense attorneys.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
And this happened almost 4 months ago?

With the number of witnesses and the fact that it was filmed, how long will this take? Shoot someone on the street in front of witnesses and you'll be up for sentencing by now.

With an idiot DA like this, it's no wonder he hasn't been charged yet.

She's done an "unofficial investigation," don't you know, with some random "old-style revolver."

Of course, even if the claim is true, he still pointed a loaded firearm at another person and manipulated it to cause it to fire and kill a woman.

*************

Alec Baldwin may not have pulled trigger in deadly shooting on ‘Rust’ set: DA


Alec Baldwin may have fired the shot that killed “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins without pulling the gun’s trigger, a New Mexico prosecutor says.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told Vanity Fair she had watched Alec Baldwin’s bombshell interview with ABC in December and was drawn to the actor’s claim that he did not pull the trigger.

“You can pull the hammer back without actually pulling the trigger and without actually locking it,” Carmack-Altwies said. “So you pull it back partway, it doesn’t lock, and then if you let it go, the firing pin can hit the primer of the bullet.”

Baldwin had insisted in the interview that the trigger was never pulled.

“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” the former “30 Rock” star said.

Carmack-Altwies launched an unofficial investigation of her own to test Baldwin’s claims that he had only pulled back the hammer of the gun before it went off, firing the live bullet that fatally struck Hutchins in the chest and wounded the film’s director Joel Souza, who was hit in the clavicle.

“I didn’t know too much about guns, certainly not about 1850s-era revolvers. So when I first heard that, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s crazy,’ ” she told Vanity Fair.

The DA requested that one of her investigators bring his old-style revolver to her office to test if a mechanical malfunction could have caused the gun to go off. They cleared a room, and she had two investigators inspect the gun to confirm it was not loaded.

Her test revealed that the hammer could have caused the live round to fire, however official results from an FBI analysis of the weapon are still pending.

While Baldwin said he did not pull the trigger, a lawsuit filed by a “Rust” script supervisor in November alleges that he “intentionally” fired the gun at Hutchins.

Lawyers for Halyna Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful-death suit against actor Alec Baldwin on Tuesday.

Baldwin responded with an Instagram post that simply included an image of an art installment from the Parrish Art Museum that says: “Everything is going to be alright.”

https://nypost.com/2022/02/20/...campaign=android_nyp

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
official results from an FBI analysis of the weapon are still pending.

This sort of thing is one of the reasons why investigations like this can take so long (and four months wouldn’t necessarily be long in any event). No prosecutor with two brain cells to rub together would pursue action against a defendant in a case like this without an official report on the gun regardless of how confident they might be about what the final report will say. Anyone foolish enough to take a case to trial with that unresolved would be chewed up by the defense.

Added: That’s not, BTW, intended as a defense or endorsement of how the DA is handling the case. I’m not interested enough to follow it closely, but why anyone would be surprised that such cases are not always handled as competently and professionally as they could be is a mystery to me. Very often prosecutors are not the legal stars who could be making far more money by doing other lawyer stuff, and even fewer of them ever get a chance to bask in the limelight of public view. Many people will do anything to get attention focused on them, and prosecutors are people.

I am curious, though, about the claim that the incident was filmed. I missed that. Can someone direct me to that information?
But even if it was filmed, cameras aren’t necessarily the all-seeing eyes some believe them to be, and it might not be obvious what the actor was doing when he was handling the revolver.

Why is a DA giving an interview to Vanity Fair magazine in the middle of an ongoing investigation?


What is this "test" she did? Did she put a live round in the chamber and attempt to drop the hammer on the firing pin? Or was it a 0.2" drop on an empty chamber and she figures that's enough to set off a primer? Cause you know she admitted that she knows nothing about guns, especially revolvers from this era.


To me it's quite clear Alec Baldwin is getting the Hollywood exemption and this Cee U Next Tuesday is lapping up her 15 minutes of fame.

Y’all, my experience is that DAs and ADAs are lawyers who couldn’t make it in the lucrative side of lawyering as defense lawyers.

ETA: My apologies to any DAs who are fighting the good fight. I may have allowed my interactions as a policeman interfere with the lumping all DAs in the same pot.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

Is what she implied possible? Could the gun go off without the trigger being pulled? I had thought not but I remembered reading something about Colt SAA's and not letting the hammer rest on a live round. I have a Ruger Vaquero and could not simulate this. Baldwin is still responsible as he pointed it at her, but curious if they can manipulate a jury by planting the seed of doubt about the trigger pull.

quote:

Why is a DA giving an interview to Vanity Fair magazine in the middle of an ongoing investigation?

Because she has absolutely no intention of charging Baldwin criminally. The fact that a DA is giving interviews like this just says that they consider criminal charges to be a non-starter.

quote:

Originally posted by dave7378:
Is what she implied possible? Could the gun go off without the trigger being pulled?

It's not possible with a correctly functioning SAA and would require a near impossible set of multiple failures to occur with a broken one. In short, all of notches on the hammer would need to be broken in order to pull the hammer back and let it drop with enough force to ignite a primer without pulling the trigger. I won't go back over it in detail because we discussed it earlier in the thread.

Thanks bigwagon.

The Civil case is where its all going to come out.

Having lived in New Mexico once upon a time, I'm not holding my breath that Santa Fe County will bring meaningful criminal charges against AB. The state of New Mexico is a Democrat stronghold. I assume Alec is Democrat. That makes him a famous liberal Democrat. That math, in New Mexico, doesn't add up to justice for Ms. Hutchins. If I'm correct, her justice will come in Civil court.

That assumes it goes to trial. Most likely it will get settled. No one is going to want to roll the dice in court.

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
The Civil case is where its all going to come out.

Having lived in New Mexico once upon a time, I'm not holding my breath that Santa Fe County will bring meaningful criminal charges against AB. The state of New Mexico is a Democrat stronghold. I assume Alec is Democrat. That makes him a famous liberal Democrat. That math, in New Mexico, doesn't add up to justice for Ms. Hutchins. If I'm correct, her justice will come in Civil court.

Most likely he'll plea to some lesser charge, accepted by the State, along with fiscal restitution of some larger amount.

Civil cases will be settled in the boardroom.

Like most cases rich or poor, this is the ultimate goal of the State and the Civil attorneys, get it settled and/or paid without prolonged trials and expense.

There's always the chance that a completely guilty celebrity will walk on a very expensive and public trial, ala OJ riding in the back of peoples minds.

It's also why it's taking a long time, NM doesn't want AB riding around in a White Tesla X avoiding turning himself in on TV..

https://www.breitbart.com/ente...i-have-deep-pockets/

Alec Baldwin responded to the lawsuits seeking to hold him accountable for last year’s fatal shooting on the set of the indie western Rust, claiming he is being targeted because he is wealthy

“What you have is a certain group of people, litigants and whatever, on whatever side, who their attitude is, ‘well the people who likely seem negligent have no money and the people who have money are not negligent,’ ” Baldwin said, according to video footage obtained by CNN.

Baldwin appeared to be alluding to the movie’s head armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and assistant director Dave Halls, who are believed to be the last two individuals to handle the firearm before it was given to Baldwin.

“So we have people that are suing people that they think are deep-pockets litigants,” Alec Baldwin added. “Why sue people if you’re not going to get money? That’s what you’re doing it for.”

Matt Hutchins, the husband of Halyna Hutchins, recently come out against Baldwin, telling NBC News’ Today show that it’s “absurd” the actor will not take responsibility for her death.

Baldwin is also facing lawsuits from crew members Serge Svetnoy and Mamie Mitchell. The actor could still face criminal charges for the incident.

The actor and his family reportedly just purchased a retreat in Vermont, consisting of a farmhouse and about 50 acres.

Laughable, coming from a guy that

-pointed a loaded gun at someone else
-fired a loaded gun at someone else
-killed and injured said “someone else”’s
-claimed he didn’t (in so many words) shoot the “someone else”’s.

He might skate on criminal charges; he only needs one juror to agree with him. But civilly he is most certainly on the hook. Hence, his statement- he knows it better than anyone.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
There's always the chance that a completely guilty celebrity will walk on a very expensive and public trial, ala OJ riding in the back of peoples minds.

OJ was found not guilty by a predominantly black jury (8 out of 12) that decided to get even with whitey as the DNA doesn't lie and it proved OJ did it.

Baldwin won't have that luxury as he's lily white.

https://www.breitbart.com/ente...hins-shooting-death/

Lawyers for actor Alec Baldwin filed an arbitration demand on Friday arguing that his Rust film contract protects him from financial responsibility for the shooting that led to Halyna Hutchins’ death on the New Mexico set of the film last year.

The documents also make the claim that it was Hutchins herself who directed Baldwin where to aim the gun he held with which he fired the fatal shot.

Laying partial blame for the shooting on Hutchins, the filing says, “She directed Baldwin to hold the gun higher, to a point where it was directed toward her. She was looking carefully at the monitor and then at Baldwin, and then back again, as she gave these instructions.”

Baldwin’s filing adds that by giving the instructions she gave on the set, it was clear that Hutchins also felt the gun was unloaded — or “cold.”

“In giving and following these instructions, Hutchins and Baldwin shared a core, vital belief: that the gun was ‘cold’ and contained no live rounds,” the filing says.

Baldwin’s filing added that Hutchins agreed when Baldwin asked if should pull back the hammer of the firearm, as the script called for.

The filing also alleges that it was not the actor’s responsibility to check the firearm he was handed to see how it was loaded, or if it was loaded at all, and that his title as executive producer actually shields him from liability.

Last week, Baldwin complained about the lawsuits being filed against him and said that he is only being targeted because he has “deep pockets.”

But Hutchins’ husband, Matt, recently said it was “absurd” that Baldwin refuses to take any responsibility for the cinematographer’s death. He is suing Baldwin for wrongful death.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

more from NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/0...ust-arbitration.html

In the filing, Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, says a clause Mr. Baldwin and his company had signed in his contract with Rust Movie Productions L.L.C. means he bears no financial responsibility for legal fees or claims arising out of the death. The filing, with the JAMS private arbitration service, seeks to enforce the clause. The document names Rust Movie Productions L.L.C. and Ryan Smith, one of the other producers, as the respondents in the claim.

“Someone is culpable for chambering the live round that led to this horrific tragedy, and it is someone other than Baldwin,” Mr. Nikas wrote in the claim, portraying Mr. Baldwin as a victim who trusted others to do their jobs and is haunted by Ms. Hutchins’s death. “This is a rare instance when the system broke down, and someone should be held legally culpable for the tragic consequences. That person is not Alec Baldwin.”

Representatives of Rust Movie Productions L.L.C. and a lawyer for Mr. Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Nikas described in the claim how, in the weeks after the fatal shooting, Mr. Baldwin had sought to persuade the cast and crew of “Rust” to finish the film to honor Ms. Hutchins, outlining a plan in which an insurance payout and the film’s profits would go to a settlement for Mr. Hutchins and the couple’s 9-year-old son.

Shortly after the shooting, the filing said, Mr. Baldwin had breakfast in Santa Fe with Mr. Hutchins and his son. At the meeting, the filing said, “Hutchins hugged Baldwin and told him, ‘I guess we’re going to go through this together.’”

But their relationship, which continued through a series of texts and calls, broke down in the aftermath of a television interview Mr. Baldwin gave in December in which he denied responsibility for Ms. Hutchins’s death; Mr. Hutchins later filed a lawsuit against Mr. Baldwin and followed it by giving his own television interview, on NBC’s “Today” show in February, in which he described being angered by Mr. Baldwin’s deflection of blame.

Although a number of crew members have described the set as unsafe, and several quit shortly before the fatal shooting, the filing said that Mr. Baldwin had not heard about or observed any safety problems on the set.

In the filing, Mr. Baldwin sought to rebut several claims that Mr. Hutchins and some “Rust” crew members had made in lawsuits and in comments to the news media.

Two lawsuits filed by crew members have claimed that Mr. Baldwin should have checked that the gun was safe to handle, even after he had received an assurance from the film’s first assistant director that it was.

But the new filing said that during firearm training for the film, the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had told Mr. Baldwin that “it was her job to check the gun — not his.” That instruction was similar to what he had been told before, it said. (Asked for comment, a lawyer for Ms. Gutierrez-Reed said he was reviewing the filing.)

“An actor cannot rule that a gun is safe,” the filing said. “That is the responsibility of other people on the set.”

And while a lawsuit filed by Serge Svetnoy, the film’s gaffer, claimed that the movie’s producers had “declined requests for weapons training days,” and Ms. Gutierrez-Reed said that Mr. Baldwin had failed to attend “cross draw” training, Mr. Baldwin’s filing says that he had inquired about lessons about a month before he showed up on set and that he had training once he had arrived.

The demand also claims that Mamie Mitchell, the script supervisor, had told Mr. Baldwin shortly after the fatal shooting, “You realize you’re not responsible for any of what happened in there, don’t you?” Ms. Mitchell is now suing Mr. Baldwin and other producers, blaming him for failing to check whether the gun he was handling was loaded.

A lawyer for Ms. Mitchell, Gloria Allred, said in a statement, “Whatever Ms. Mitchell said immediately after the shooting when she was in a state of shock, and whatever Mr. Baldwin said immediately after the shooting, will be testified to at the trial in our civil case.” She said that the filing was “simply one more attempt by Mr. Baldwin to avoid responsibility for what he did.”

In the filing, Mr. Baldwin and his lawyer go so far as to publish private text correspondence between Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Hutchins. The texts show Mr. Baldwin checking whether Mr. Hutchins still wanted to continue their conversations given the possible legal sensitivities, and Mr. Hutchins agreeing to continue communicating despite, according to the texts, the likely wishes of his legal advisers and press representative.

Mr. Panish, the lawyer for Mr. Hutchins, called the inclusion of personal texts “irrelevant.”

“Baldwin’s disclosure of personal texts with Matt Hutchins is irrelevant to his demand for arbitration and fails to demonstrate anything other than Hutchins’ dignity in his engagement with Baldwin,” he said in the statement. “It is shameful that Baldwin claims Hutchins’ actions in filing a wrongful-death lawsuit derailed the completion of ‘Rust.’ The only action that ended the film’s production was Baldwin’s killing of Halyna Hutchins.”

The filing notes that Mr. Baldwin spoke at a memorial for Ms. Hutchins and that later Mr. Hutchins had shared a photograph of his son with Mr. Baldwin.

Later, Mr. Hutchins filed a lawsuit against Mr. Baldwin, claiming that he had “recklessly shot and killed Halyna Hutchins on the set.” In an interview on NBC’s “Today” show, he said it was “absurd” for Mr. Baldwin to deny responsibility.

I did a internet search and it seems no new news on him. I'm at the point now of thinking the DA will not file criminal charges. It's been 6 months.

I wonder now if there will be a press release late on a Friday afternoon that charges will not be filed, and the news will forget all about this.
.

https://www.aol.com/entertainm...50769-175749197.html

New Mexico workplace safety regulators on Wednesday issued the maximum possible fine of nearly $137,000 against a film production company for firearms safety failures on the set of “Rust” where a cinematographer was fatally shot in October by actor and producer Alec Baldwin.

New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau said Rust Movie Productions must pay $136,793, and distributed a scathing narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set prior to the fatal shooting. The bureau also documented gun safety complaints from crew members that went unheeded and said weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions about additional safety training.

“What we had, based on our investigators' findings, was a set of obvious hazards to employees regarding the use of firearms and management’s failure to act upon those obvious hazards,” Bob Genoway, bureau chief for occupational safety, told The Associated Press.

The new occupational safety report confirms that a large-caliber revolver was handed to Baldwin by an assistant director, David Halls, without consulting with on-set weapons specialists during or after the gun was loaded. Regulators note that Halls also served as safety coordinator and that he was present and witnessed two accidental discharges of rifles on set, and that he and other managers who knew of the misfires took no investigative, corrective or disciplinary action. Crew members expressed surprise and discomfort.

“The Safety Coordinator was present on set and took no direct action to address safety concerns," the report states. “Management was provided with multiple opportunities to take corrective actions and chose not to do so. As a result of these failures, Director Joel Souza and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins were severely injured. Halyna Hutchins succumbed to her injuries.”

James Kenney, secretary of the Environment Department that oversees occupational safety, said the agency dedicated 1,500 staff hours to its investigation, examined hundreds of documents and conducted at least a dozen interviews with cast and crew members.

Investigators found production managers placed tight limits on resources for a small team that controlled weapons on set and failed to address concerns about a shotgun left unattended twice.

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the daughter of a sharpshooter and consultant to film productions, was limited to eight paid days as an armorer to oversee weapons and training, and was assigned otherwise to lighter duties as a props assistant. As her time as an armorer ran out, Gutierrez Reed warned a manager and was rebuffed.

Safety investigators also note that the production company did not develop a process to ensure live rounds of ammunition were not brought on set, in violation of industry safety protocols. Safety meetings were conducted, but not every day weapons were used, as required.

Kenney said the separate investigations into possible criminal charges are still underway.

He said his agency received no direct safety complaints from cast or crew prior to the fatal shooting, even though anonymity is offered.

quote:

I'm at the point now of thinking the DA will not file criminal charges. It's been 6 months.

Perhaps, however clearly they should be going over everything that happened, the fines levied on the production serve to show a clear case of negligence, they may have been waiting on this to serve as part of their findings.

With the money AB has to fight the State needs to be sure everything is in order, AB and his ego probably isn't going to plead the case, but you never know. Depends on how strong a case the State can bring.