Looks like they’ve raised the minimum age … to 7
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Kim Foxx has entered the chat
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Negligence as a producer is a purely civil matter for a wrongful death suit.
The negligence for manslaughter has to be the direct cause of the death. In this case, it’s the armorer’s negligence, not Baldwin’s,
Let’s not forget that the bar for indictment is much lower than the bar for conviction. The trial hasn’t even begun yet, and the legal definitions are sure to be argued in court. If the prosecutor fucked up and overreached, that’s sure to come up as well.
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I am an analyst, not a healthcare professional, so I have a small perspective on a small part of the system. (UK)
I understand that blood is (usually) typed against the patient immediately before transfusion, even though
- it was tested the first time the donor donated,
- it was tested when it was separated and tested for diseases,
- if it lost its labels that allowed it to be traced back to a donor it’d be disposed of for safety concerns.
In fact, as I’m reading the rest of the thread before replying
SAG wants:
Which is comparable to “even though multiple people upstream of you have typed this blood, test it again”.
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Yep. I think the policy quoted there is very reasonable.
However, it’s the policy for stage actors. From discussing above it sounds as though screen actors are not allowed to do a check like that. Thats the part I just can’t grok.
Bigger “in general” question. IANAL but maybe someone here has insight?
Can Union rules supercede laws? i.e. If a law makes something your responsibiltiy, but a union rule says otherwise, is that considered a legitimate legal justification?
(not specifically asking if Alec Baldwin had a legal responsibility as I assume the courts will work that out).
Where’s a Legal Eagle video when I need one.
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There is no law in question making it an actor’s responsibility. Unfortunately firearms use is wildly under regulated, especially in NM. The union rules go towards evidence of negligence. Identification of negligent parties, who had the duty of care, how was it breached.
The better argument for the State might be that if the entire production was primarily Baldwin’s project, and it had evidence that it was his negligence that caused the failures that led to the death (not following proper hiring practices for the Armorer, following on-set safety rules, etc), then it was his responsibility to that extent and criminal accountability would attach due to his role as Producer, not the actor who pulled the trigger. That he participated in both roles would only help the state, not Baldwin. But I do agree he, rather than the State, is more likely to prevail if he went to trial. Often times the threat of active time encourages accepting the lessor charge, but we’ll see.
ETA: Attorney on CNN saying Armorer was not even present, and Balwin may as well have taken the gun from the caterer.
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No, of course not . No union rules can supersede laws regarding handling deadly weapons at the federal, state, or tribal level. And everyone is subject in New Mexico (and other states) to duties of care AND legality when handling deadly weapons.
Even if we were in some bizarro world where some union rules could supersede actual criminal laws, Rust was a non-union film. They were not using union rules , assets, or crew in their filming. So even if union rules WERE able to somehow supersede actual laws, that wouldn’t apply in this case.
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Oh look! A high profile case of workplace mismanagement and safety failure that can be used to justify workplace negligence and injury will be in the news and people will sympathize with the uh… victim… Mr. Alec Baldwin who now faces an existential crises due his being in an unfortunately cursed leadership position when an entirely preventable accident resulted in death on the job.
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The State’s Attorney (DA) for Cook County (Chicago). She is the one responsible for the Jussie Smollett shitshow and dozens of other incompetencies.
Her ASAs have been resigning like crazy and their resignation letters have been igniting a firestorm about the sheer incompetence in how she runs the SA office.
ETA: I voted for her over Anita Alvarez bc it seems like no one could be worse than Alvarez, just like I voted for Lightfoot thinking no one could be worse than Rahm…never voting for either of those two again. I’m all in for Chuy in the Mayoral race here at the end of Feb.
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I’m going to need to see some documentation on that assertion. Most people get shot because someone intentionally shot them.
Edit:
I’ll just answer that myself.
“Gun-related deaths from preventable, intentional, and undetermined causes totaled 45,222 in 2020, an increase of 13.9% from 39,707 deaths in 2019. Suicides account for 54% of deaths related to firearms, while 43% were homicides, and about 1% were preventable/accidental.”
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Criminal liability as a producer is virtually nil.
Criminal liability for homicide requires a high degree of specificity. A specific person committing the act, a specific act causing the death, a specific mens rea (intent).
If you can’t figure out exactly who needs to be charged = acquittal
If you can’t figure out what the person charged specifically did to cause the death = acquittal
If you can’t pin down some level of intent in performing the act which killed the persons = acquittal.
Short of Baldwin having the entire chain of custody for the gun from prop room to set, you can’t tell whose negligence was at play to cause the death. Uncertainty means acquittal.
Involuntary manslaughter is a general intent crime, meaning it does not require a specific intent the same way murder does. Recklessness is enough intent oftentimes to prove guilt.
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Yeah. That’s what I was saying all along, that and I suspect the people who actually filed the charges know more about what the law says in New Mexico and what kind of evidence they have.
Something else to note is that almost everything else we’ve seen publicly in this case has come solely from Alec Baldwin’s PR camps or his lawyers. The investigations, victim’s family, law enforcement, etc, has all been extremely tight lipped. So it’s unclear if even the version of events we’ve read and heard is truth or just pro-defense spin.
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