Alec Baldwin’s Rust charges aren’t going away so quickly
The civil case against Baldwin for “negligent and reckless conduct” on the Rust set will move forward
Aux News Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. The actor, who was holding the gun that discharged on the set of the indie film Rust, injuring director Joel Souza and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, will still face civil trial. This update follows news that the criminal charges against Baldwin that were dropped could still be refiled.
Per Deadline, New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid denied Baldwin and co-defendants El Dorado Pictures and Rust Movie Productions’ motion to dismiss the civil case. Baldwin’s lawyers also attempted to delay the trial until after the criminal trial concluded. However, the judge denied their bid but did remind Baldwin and his lawyers that they could continue to “assert their constitutional rights as they see fit.”
The civil case against Baldwin and the film’s production company was lodged by Rust crew members Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin, and Reese Price, who accused the actor and the production of negligence and recklessness. Meanwhile, clearly showing little sympathy for Baldwin, Judge Biedscheid said it was “surprisingly common” for civil and criminal cases to run concurrently.
Baldwin could still face criminal charges for the Rust shooting. Recent forensics reports from prosecutors argued that Baldwin must’ve pulled the trigger despite the actor’s insistence that he did not. “Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings, and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver,” an August 2 report reads. As a result, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said that charges against Baldwin are still being considered, but a final decision has yet to be made.
13 Comments
I fail to see how an actor firing a prop gun on a movie set is criminally liable.
Shouldn’t be, but famous guy conviction makes careers I guess.
I have no love for Baldwin, and Rust seems like a shameless cash grab, but whether or not he pulled the trigger shouldn’t be the point. The point is that it isn’t an actor’s responsibility to be checking the gun, there’s a person who’s job that is, and they didn’t do it, and shouldn’t have been fucking around with live rounds on set in the first place.Side note: I read somewhere that the guns in the John Wick movies are all rubber and the muzzle flashes are added in post. Seems like a pretty foolproof way to prevent something like this.
It’s about money.* Using real guns is still more cost effective than adding convincing effects afterward — until something goes wrong, of course.Chad Stahelski, who directed the John Wick films, was a friend and stunt double of Brandon Lee, which undoubtedly influenced his perspective.*Edited to add that I suppose you could make the point that using actual guns makes it more “real” for the actors, but this probably one of the best contexts for the old “why don’t you just try acting?” canard.
Very good point. I guess really the most foolproof and also cost effective way to avoid this would just be a strict “no live ammo on set or you’re fired” rule. And damn, didn’t know that about Stahelski and Lee – I’m sure that has a huge influence.
Chad’s said he never, ever has real guns on set – he see zero reason for them. And that’s Chad fucking Stahelski saying that.
You can absolutely tell that they’re just waving around rubber guns in modern action movies with CGI blood and muzzle flashes though. ultimately using CGI is a cost cutting measure because it makes retakes easier and lowers insurance rates.
If he’s a producer he more than likely put some money into the production, or secured lines of credit, so it being a cash grab doesn’t make sense. It’s a small independent film, he was never going to make a bunch of money from it.
Cash grab definitely wasn’t the right term in hindsight. I guess I was just trying to think of something derogatory to say as code for “who wanted this movie in the first place it was probably going to suck?”
CGI muzzle flashes and blood splatter look like shit though. Bring back blanks and squibs.
Gotta hand it to a guy so bloodthirsty they were able to financially back a whole ass movie just to be able to kill someone.
It’s the perfect crime.
He took a persons life, willingly or not he should be ashamed of that and pay the price. But he doesn’t seem to have any remorse for his actions so fuck him. Should have owned up to his mistake and faced the consequences, instead he’s trying to run away from it. Asshole.And yes, it was his responsibility to check the weapon before using it. That is every persons responsibility when they are handed a firearm.