Alec Baldwin Charged
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Legally the case will probably hinge on whether it’s a standard practice for actors to verify for themselves the safety checks that are the jobs of others to ensure. I doubt it’s a standard practice for actors to check their guns every time. It’s not even clear to me that the live ammo was visually obvious in this case.
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Just no.
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I wonder if his role as a producer has a bigger part to play than his role as an actor. If, for instance, he had been witness to unsafe handling by the armorer or was aware of her using the gun to fire live rounds then he would bear some responsibility for not stepping in.
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@jon-nyc said in Alec Baldwin Charged:
You could imagine blank rounds with square cross sectional shape and a square chamber in an otherwise realistic looking gun. So live rounds won’t even fit.
True. However, getting realistic muzzle-flash would be a problem, I assume.
The director of Scarface, Brian DePalma was obsessed with realistic muzzle flash.
The prop firearms were equipped with electronic synchronising devices so that they would only fire when the camera shutter was open. The result was that the guns' muzzle flashes are much more visible and consistent than in most films.
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The cylinder is pretty iconic, when you're looking at it from the muzzle end.
Blanks have nothing that extends past the rim of the case. It's usually a piece of cardboard or similar stiff materia used as a wad to compress the gunpowder. Can't have too much uncompressed powder rattling around due to detonation issues. They don't look like the conical lead bullets of a revolver round.
So...In order to present an authentic looking Peacemaker with a muzzle shot, you either have to have weapon loaded with dummy rounds or a fake gun. Or you have to have a real gun with real rounds on a cleared range shooting just past a camera.
From a side angle or behind the shooter, blanks would work best...Keeping in mind that even blanks can be dangerous at certain distances.
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It's not an uncommon camera angle.
This all boils down to live rounds on the set. Should have never happened.
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@Mik said in Alec Baldwin Charged:
This all boils down to live rounds on the set. Should have never happened.
QFT. What kind of idiot armorer allows, possibly even initiates, that.
There were all kinds of inappropriate things going on on the set wrt firearms. Target practice, and general tomfoolery.
A possible explanation:
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Ken White (aka Popehat) discussed this case and thinks there’s a decent chance Baldwin will have to accept some jail time in his plea or risk 18 months if a jury trial goes wrong.
He said it easily meets the state statute’s definition (“without due caution”) and furthermore Baldwin had painted himself into a corner with his public comments.
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@jon-nyc said in Alec Baldwin Charged:
Baldwin had painted himself into a corner with his public comments.
There was a NYT article saying the same thing, but I can't find it at the moment.
Here's Breitbart's take on it: https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/01/20/nolte-alec-baldwin-made-one-huge-mistake-he-talked/
Outside of not inspecting the gun himself, however, the dumbest thing Baldwin did was talk.
Right away, Baldwin made the biggest mistake you can make in a criminal investigation: he talked to the police.
You never-ever-ever-ever talk to the police without your attorney present. “I’m sorry, Detective, but I’m not going to talk to you without my attorney.” That’s what you say—every time. Someone breaks into your house, and you shoot him; that’s what you say. You stop a mass shooter at your local Walmart with a gun of your own; that’s what you say. No matter how innocent you might believe you are, no matter how righteous you believe you acted, you never talk to the police without your attorney.
His talking should have consisted of one word: "Lawyer."
And he can afford the best.
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