Alec Baldwin: "I didn't pull the trigger.."

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Speedo66

Speedo66

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In a new version of the story, Baldwin now says he didn't pull the trigger on the gun that killed a movie set member and injured another. He said he wouldn't point a gun at someone and pull the trigger. I guess just pointing a gun at someone is okay.

From the NY Times article:

"The actor Alec Baldwin said in an upcoming television interview that he did not pull the trigger of the gun he was practicing with on the set of the film “Rust,” which fired a live round as he held it, killing the film’s cinematographer and wounding its director.

“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them — never,” Mr. Baldwin told George Stephanopoulos in an ABC News interview that is scheduled to be broadcast Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern. The network posted brief excerpts from the interview Wednesday as a preview.

The exchange came after Mr. Stephanopoulos noted that it had not been part of the script for the trigger to be pulled in that scene. Mr. Baldwin jumped in: “Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger.”

He did not elaborate on why the gun might have gone off in the excerpt ABC provided."
 
I'm guessing Baldwin will be paying the cinematographer's family and director many millions of dollars. Also, it is apparent that there is justification for criminal charges for negligent homocide, reckless endangerment and/or manslaughter and possibly others. If he carries this "I didn't pull the trigger" schtick into the courtroom, one could add perjury to the charges.
It's just my humble opinion that he should do a number of years behind bars for this "mistake".
I saw a couple clips of the Stephanopoulos piece. I thought Baldwin appeared to be definitely scared about what he did and was making an all out effort to find a way to place the blame somewhere, anywhere, other than in his lap.
 
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This is actually a very scary situation for non-gun people. A couple ladies were talking with me shortly after the incident and they very much felt sympathy for Mr. Baldwin's plight. Basically, they don't know a lot about guns but have shot a few times under another person's supervision. The gun was loaded and handed to them with instructions what to do. If she was told a gun was empty/safe then she would rely upon that person's knowledge and act however she was told. In an acting setting if that instruction was point this direction while saying lines, the assumption is that is okay to do. Having the gun fire and hurt or kill someone would not enter their minds as a possibility because they were told it could not happen.

I think where this case will turn is going to be a question is why they were using real guns as props and who allowed live ammunition into the area. If rumors about previous target shooting and a negligent discharge days before turn out to be true, or if someone can show a greater degree of firearms knowledge and experience by Mr. Baldwin then there would be grounds for some level of criminal liability. Otherwise this may just as well stay in the world of workplace accident and civil suits.
 
I saw that earlier today.

Now he's lying to protect his own hide. His lying is proof that he doesn't truly care about the person he killed. If he truly cared about Halyna Hutchins, he'd tell the truth and take the consequences like a man.

Remember when they said Kyle was faking his panic attack? Yeah, about that episode Alec had outside the cop shop...
 
tark said:
I believe him! The gun pulled its own trigger...right after it loaded itself and cocked its own hammer! I believe we are talking about a single action Colt replica. All the hoglegs I have known do all of those things on their own!

Don't they???
Click to expand...
I bet there are people who are unfamiliar with guns that may believe your second sentence. A semi auto single action assault pistol.

Anyone who knows a little may find the "cocked itself" part a little hard to swallow. He's going to have to own that unless he says it was handed to him like that.

Must have also been one of those guns that zeros in on a live target by itself.
 
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Hutchens and Souza should bear part of the blame as they knew guns were dangerous, and known to go off by themselves, as proven by the media. Knowing all this would have made any sane person stay away from a movie set with guns. Yet they chose to put themselves in jeopardy.
Let Baldwin go and melt down all evil guns!
I give this thread about 1 more hour...... :)
 
He didn't have to pull the triggger, but he did have the gun in his hand. The gun has no hammer block or transfer bar; hammer only had to be pulled back 1/4" to 3/8" and released to cause the gun to discharge. That's why the oldtimers kept the hammer down on an empty chamber.
Handling the gun, he may not have rememberd he unconciously "thumbed" the hammer. That is a natural, ergonomic "feel" for that type of pistol, just like putting your finger on the trigger of a firearm is the natural "feel" of handling a firearm, and why we pound it into junior shooters to keep their finger off the trigger untill they are in position and ready to fire.
 
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I think Baldwin believes it. He really, really wants to believe it, so he does. Remember, his profession is pretending to be someone else. And he certainly did not mean to harm that lady.

That doesn't resolve him of responsibility for what happened. The prop handler shares in the responsibility. The courts are going to have to parse out how much responsibility each person in the chain of disaster has. The lawsuit in civil court will be easier. His insurance will pay a lot for this, although that doesn't really make any difference in the tragedy.
 
We call this, “The Shaggy Defense” around the office… “It wasn’t me.”



Attorney 102: This is a valiant ploy by his criminal and civil defense teams to put him out there to try and change the narrative before a criminal charge is filed or a civil jury is seated.

Remember, it just takes one in a criminal jury to buy this cockamamie story and vote to acquit or hold guilty on lesser charges to throw a verdict into flux, and it could lessen financial damages if some believe it’s not Baldwin’s fault.

Another thing, the cult of celebrity is extremely powerful in the US. Fame and outsized adoration for these people who are portraying characters on screen is a huge reason these folks get away with a lot more than us schmoes ever could. I will not be surprised one bit if this clown skates being held responsible for his actions. :(

Stay safe.
 
I have kept my piehole mostly shut on this one for a couple of reasons. The facts weren't all out yet, and I wanted to give the man the benefit of the doubt. I don't know the protocols for handling guns on movie sets. (Surely actors violated all four of the safety rules on the set of the John Wick movies several thousand times.) This means, there is a layer of professionals between the guns and the actors to ensure safety on the set. (I would assume.) It is ALSO likely, that on sets with smaller budgets, they don't have the resources to buy inert replica guns, and they have to rely on protocols to stay safe.

However in this case, he was NOT shooting a movie scene. He was effing off BETWEEN scenes. He wasn't practicing with another actor, he was pointing it at the film staff. (I think she was an asst director, something like that?) That means he was working outside of filming protocols.

And if he now wants to assert that he didn't pull the trigger, the lab is going to take that gun to the range and try to replicate the 'accident over and over again. If they fail to do so, that defense won't stick. The reason there are four rules, is that you have to violate ALL FOUR OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME for someone to get hurt. Incidents where the gun malfunctions and 'shoots itself' are so rare as to be statistically impossible.
 
PWC said:
He didn't have to pull the triggger, but he did have the gun in his hand. The gun has no hammer block or transfer bar; hammer only had to be pulled back 1/4" to 3/8" and released to cause the gun to discharge. That's why the oldtimers kept the hammer down on an empty chamber.
Click to expand...

I don't know about that. Will the hammer get enough spring load to fire before it engages the quarter cock "safety notch?" That would call for testing, and for court evidence, with the same gun and ammo. It doesn't matter; if he didn't pull the trigger, then he thumbed the hammer just enough. Either way it was his hand and action.
 
HighRoadRover said:
I think Baldwin believes it. He really, really wants to believe it, so he does. Remember, his profession is pretending to be someone else. And he certainly did not mean to harm that lady.

That doesn't resolve him of responsibility for what happened. The prop handler shares in the responsibility. The courts are going to have to parse out how much responsibility each person in the chain of disaster has. The lawsuit in civil court will be easier. His insurance will pay a lot for this, although that doesn't really make any difference in the tragedy.
Click to expand...
You and I probably have a greater probability of serving jail time for this than does Alec Baldwin.
 
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