Shockingly he has entered a Not Guilty plea! It is gratifying to see in the end this case being handled competently, especially with respect to safe gun-handling protocol. Looks like a win for getting all your ducks in a row even if it takes a little extra time.

ALEC BALDWIN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO NEW RUST MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES

While charges against Alec Baldwin for his involvement in the deadly RUST shooting were dropped last spring, prosecutors have reopened the case with new evidence against the actor, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Baldwin entered a not-guilty plea to the New Mexico court last Thursday, waiving his virtual appearance scheduled for later that morning. He was not arrested and, under the rules of his parole, is not permitted to possess any firearm, leave the country or communicate with anyone who may testify in the case.

The actor and his legal team maintain that he was unaware that the gun was loaded with live munitions, nor is he liable for checking the gun.

“Performers train to perform, and they are not required or expected to be experts on guns or experienced in their use,” a SAG-AFTRA statement said in Baldwin’s defense. “The industry assigns that responsibility to qualified professionals who oversee their use and handling in every aspect.”

Prosecutors, however, argue that actors are responsible for some level of safety on set, and Baldwin did not meet the most basic requirements.

“Actors are not expected to be gun experts, but Alec was handed a real firearm and pointed it at two people without checking himself to see if it was unloaded, or having the prop master do that for him,” said attorney Christopher C. Melcher. “It is standard procedure to ensure that a firearm is unloaded when using it on set.”

“Alec would have followed that process hundreds of times in his career,” Melcher continued. “But this time he took possession of the firearm, pointed it at two people and shot them. It would have taken seconds to determine there was a live round in the gun. The failure to use due care when handling a deadly weapon is not an accident, it is a crime.”

The accident occurred in October 2021, killing Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin’s manslaughter charges carry a prison sentence of up to 18 months and a $5,000 fine.

RUST’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is also under investigation, facing the same involuntary manslaughter charge as Baldwin. She claims that the actor did not allow her sufficient time for safety training, placing the culpability solely on him.

Movieguide

I watched portion of the court proceedings on court tv youtube.

I found it odd that while on the stand giving testimony, evidence was entered from a box with each item being labeled as the expert testimony was being presented. Is this normal?

Another thing of interest was the focus on disorganization.
A cart that had a mixture of loose rounds, where two live rounds were also found in the mix.

The focus on how to identify blanks and dummy rounds. Also a lever action rifle being jammed with a wrong caliber bullet. It all looks like they are trying to pin incompetence on Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.



LIVE: Day 1 - NM v. Hannah Gutierrez: Baldwin Movie Shooting Trial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dImjzszIg0Y

quote:

Originally posted by TRIO:

The focus on how to identify blanks and dummy rounds. Also a lever action rifle being jammed with a wrong caliber bullet. It all looks like they are trying to pin incompetence on Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

Well, if the reports are true about the live ammo on set and wrong ammo in a rifle, I would seriously question her competence.

I am still not 100% convinced Baldwin is 100% at fault. I despise him and WANT him to be found guilty, but he still deserves due process.

quote:

i found it odd that while on the stand giving testimony, evidence was entered from a box with each item being labeled as the expert testimony was being presented. Is this normal?

Yeah, the DA has all the evidence from the police and enters them while labeling them as “evidence number xx”. The court clerk keeps track of the numbers and when the defense enters items as evidence they get to number their own.

I’ve never seen ALL the items the police seize entered into court cases and explained. It’s the items the DA wants to use to tell the story he is weaving to get a conviction.

I once had to testify in a murder case, the DA had me describe the scene as he was showing me pictures of the scene. Then he entered them into evidence, numbered them and handed them to the jury. In one he described a picture of the deceased in a pool of his own blood. As he was passing it around he said, “and officer Mike, did you put this pen in the picture to show scale?”

I responded, “ no my pen fell out of my pocket as I was stooping over the deceased to check for a pulse, and I wasn’t going to pick it up after it was in his blood.”

One of the jury chuckled and a family member in the courtroom got up and left muttering something under her breath.

quote:

Originally posted by Hound Dog:
I am still not 100% convinced Baldwin is 100% at fault.

While I can't disagree with this, I am convinced that he is enough at fault to easily convict him of involuntary manslaughter. Had HE not pulled the trigger on a loaded weapon, she would still be alive. Guilty as charged.

Punishment is a whole 'nother can of worms, but there should be some and it should hurt.

Thank you Mike for sharing your experience.

He pointed a revolver at another person, cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger. He did not verify the condition of this revolver before he did so.

He's guilty on top of guilty. He's 200% guilty and he's a Goddamned loud-mouthed, arrogant, hypocritical fool who killed an innocent person with his stupid bullshit.

He's as guilty as he can be. Others, who were responsible for the condition of the revolver and for the safety of all people present, may also be guilty, but whether or not this is so, Alec Baldwin recklessly and wantonly ended the life of another person with his actions; direct, deliberate actions.

Guilty. Double guilty. Guilty guilty. The loathing that we and many people in this world have for this ASSHOLE has no bearing on his guilt or innocence in this matter. It just happens to work out that we want him to be guilty and he is, in fact, guilty.

We are not making this so. Alec Baldwin has made this so, when he pointed a revolver at an innocent person, cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger.

https://hotair.com/headlines/2...he-shooting-n3783505

Jurors in the trial of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed were shown text messages on Friday that indicated she was smoking marijuana the night before a fatal accident on set.

Prosecutors are building a case that Gutierrez Reed’s sloppiness and lack of professionalism led to the death of Halyna Hutchins, the film’s cinematographer.

In one text to a fellow crew member on Oct. 20, 2021, Gutierrez Reed wrote: “Right on, I might go smoke in the jacuzzi soon, but maybe not I’m so pooped.”

“Headed down to get high out back:b,” she wrote in an other message.

Later on, the crew member asked, “How’d the blaze sess go.” Gutierrez Reed wrote back: “I’m still smoking.”


The defense tried to keep this evidence out of the trial on the basis of irrelevance, but the judge allowed prosecutors to push this part of the case. They're arguing that Gutierrez-Reed had custody of the ammunition while high and negligently mixed live ammo in with the blanks. That might actually help Alec Baldwin, except that he was also in charge of the production as well as being the man who fired the shot that killed Hutchins.


more here:

https://variety.com/2024/film/...drug-use-1235920721/

Baldwin is trying to hang this around the armorer’s neck. That’s his out for criminal behavior. He’ll send her to hell to save his own skin. The most he hopes to be liable for is monetary damages and that his liability insurance will cover it.

Alec Baldwin handled a firearm unsafely and killed someone as a result. He is 100% guilty of that.

It certainly appears that Hannah Guitierrez Reid had absolutely no business being in the position of responsibility she was. She will likely be (and should be) found guilty of at least contributing negligence, if not lots more.

As a producer, Alec Baldwin should be held responsible for allowing someone as unqualified as HGR in that position on top of being convicted for his own direct actions.

The only reason this incompetent woman was ever even considered for the job was nepotism. Just because your daddy is fast with a sixgun, that doesn't make you an expert in the handling of firearms.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
He pointed a revolver at another person, cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger. He did not verify the condition of this revolver before he did so.

He's guilty on top of guilty. He's 200% guilty and he's a Goddamned loud-mouthed, arrogant, hypocritical fool who killed an innocent person with his stupid bullshit.

He's as guilty as he can be. Others, who were responsible for the condition of the revolver and for the safety of all people present, may also be guilty, but whether or not this is so, Alec Baldwin recklessly and wantonly ended the life of another person with his actions; direct, deliberate actions.

Guilty. Double guilty. Guilty guilty. The loathing that we and many people in this world have for this ASSHOLE has no bearing on his guilt or innocence in this matter. It just happens to work out that we want him to be guilty and he is, in fact, guilty.

We are not making this so. Alec Baldwin has made this so, when he pointed a revolver at an innocent person, cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger.

Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% with you!
But....
In today's day and age, especially dealing with this smarmy shit and his liberal, bullshit mentality:
He's not guilty, he didn't mean to do it, it's not his fault, it's someone else's fault, it could NEVER be his fault because he didn't know it was a real gun with real bullets.

He will NEVER accept the consequences of his actions, even after found guilty.
Oh, he can PLAY a character, but doesn't possess any personal character to actually admit, to at the very least- himself, that HIS ACTIONS caused injury to one person and the death of another.
Even on his last day on this earth.

I deal with stone cold murders a lot. Hell, even THEY say "Yeah, I killed that person." at some point.

I also don’t think the non gun world nor the legal system give the rules of gun safety proper weight and credence. As gun owners, we regard those rules as gospel. Under them Baldwin is 100% guilty. It couldn’t be any clearer. But under the law, can he credibly make the case it was the armorer’s job to give him a safe gun? Can O J make the case that the bloody glove doesn’t fit and therefore he is found not guilty? I think that’s why Alec’s legal team will bear down on the irresponsible and incompetent armorer. After all, it’s her responsibility, gun safety rules be damned.

Not much info here but at least something along with the appearance of the prosecutor. FWIW.


.

I believe that they were trying to make this movie on the cheap and cut corners. Hired people as armorer and armorer assistant that had no business in those positions, People that just didn't know they were in over their heads. They didn't know what they didn't know and that came back to bite them in the ass. Now the prosecution is pointing the finger at Gutierrez-Reed and saying she was the "expert". No, she was made to think she was an expert because you needed to hire someone at 50% off.

The prosecution had a real expert when they had Bryan Carpenter take the stand. Dude had an impressive resume and talked the talk.

He also said that if an ND occurred it was the armorer and the person that had the ND that were ultimately responsible. The armorer for allowing the environment for it to happen and the person that pulled the trigger for obvious reasons. He also stated that before giving a firearm to an actor he would ask if they wanted to check it, but many actors don't want to check it and he seemed like he was ok with that.

That dude is going to be called for Baldwin's trial. I guarantee it.

He's one those guys that sue gun a manufacturer for this

His lawyer(s) have to be dancing in the streets all the way home ,every week this drags the hell out.

( I will get this boat and build on a guest house, next vacation France!
Oh! And I will custom paint my land rover , and a new hot tub for the steamboat springs condo )

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I believe it means a "Zoom" type video conference.

Precisely. It is pretty common for preliminary matters.

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
I believe that they were trying to make this movie on the cheap and cut corners. Hired people as armorer and armorer assistant that had no business in those positions, People that just didn't know they were in over their heads. They didn't know what they didn't know and that came back to bite them in the ass.

"The prosecution had a real expert when they had Bryan Carpenter take the stand. Dude had an impressive resume and talked the talk."
.

Interesting and damning article:

"SANTA FE, N.M. — The director called “action,” and Alec Baldwin emerged from a wooden shed and advanced toward the camera, firing shots from an old pistol. As soon as he heard “cut,” the actor wanted to do the take again.

“One more! One more! One more! Right away!” Baldwin shouted. “Let’s reload!”

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s 24-year-old armorer, hurried to put more blanks into his gun. Baldwin was visibly impatient. “Here we go! C’mon,” he said. “We should have two guns and both we’re reloading.”

Gutierrez Reed is now on trial for a fatal accident that occurred later on the set of “Rust.” On Thursday morning, jurors saw outtakes from the film, in which Baldwin could be seen using his pistol to point as he gave instructions to the crew. Baldwin could be seen using his pistol to point as he gave instructions to the crew.

The videos — seen publicly for the first time — are likely to be played again at Baldwin’s manslaughter trial in July. Both he and the armorer are accused of criminal negligence in the death of the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins."

Click HERE for the rest of the article. This makes me shake my head in disgust. Again and Again.
.

Hasn't it been marvelous, not hearing from this gun rights-hating blowhard lecturing us about things he knows nothing about on social media? Remember, it used to be that whenever there was a shooting of notoriety, this fool would get on his high horse and be his gigantic dick self?

I don't miss it, but it's fun to think about how badly King Shit has fucked himself forever.