Chandler (‪@remy_legal‬) is coming to you, after spending a full day, live, in the courthouse.
A grand jury in New Mexico has charged Alec Baldwin with a fresh count of involuntary manslaughter over a fatal movie set shooting in October 2021. Alec will stand trial in this series as we cover the case live.
The Allegation: Alec Baldwin received the firearm from David Halls, a safety coordinator and assistant director (not the armorer), and was told it was safe (He shouted 'cold gun', meaning the gun was not live). Interestingly, Halls had witnessed two negligent discharges (ND) in the days before the accident and had failed to take any appropriate action.
Also, in his position of Safety coordinator, he should have checked the gun was indeed 'cold' before handing it over, in my opinion. While the buck might stop somewhere else, he is still in the chain of negligence [and pleaded 'no contest' to the charge of 'negligent use of a deadly weapon',] and was convicted of that last year.
Baldwin did not check the firearm, and seemingly the person who handed it to him did not check it either. The armorer was not on set. The armorer should always be on set when firearms are being used to ensure safety protocols are being followed. Usually an armorer should give an 'all clear' once firearms are secured. There is scant information on whether Baldwin had the required on-set safety training mandated. Even if he had been using guns on set for decades, it's still required to go over things with an actor before the scene.
As an actor he may be culpable for the incident if it can be shown that he acted negligently when in possession of the firearm. However, an actor is not supposed to be a firearms expert. That's the reason why productions are required to hire someone who is. However, he was also a producer on the production, so in his capacity as producer, he might have some level of culpability. Especially as the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, said that the producers overruled her and therefore created unsafe work conditions.
However, Gutierrez was found guilty of the misdemeanor of negligent firearm use. It is further alleged that she spent most nights drinking heavily and smoking weed and was very likely hung over when she loaded the weapon.