Everyone must be presumed innocent — but it does not follow that anyone is immune from rigorous investigation.
© (Associated Press photo/Charlie Neibergall) Is the Alec Baldwin shooting a homicide? The accidental movie-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by actor Alec Baldwin reminds me of two tragic cases in which I was involved as a lawyer. The first was the tragic helicopter crash on the set of „The Twilight Zone“ film, in which actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed. The second was the accidental shooting of actor Brandon Lee by a fellow actor during the filming of „The Crow.“ The first resulted in an acquittal after a lengthy trial; the second was settled civilly, with no criminal charges brought. I had thought that the end result of these tragedies was a significant change in the rules regarding safety on movie sets. With particular regard to the Brandon Lee shooting, the new rule was supposed to be that no weapon capable of firing should be allowed on a set; only mock guns that have never been fired and are not capable of being fired should be allowed. The argument that filming must be as realistic as possible was presumably rejected in favor of increased safety, but apparently that did not occur in this case. The evidence is currently unclear as to how a real gun, with a real projectile, was handed to Baldwin, allegedly with an assurance that it was „a cold gun.“ Such a verbal assurance does not come close to satisfying what should be the fail-safe standards. Moreover, there is evidence that people on the set were concerned about safety conditions prior to the tragedy. Indeed, some on set reportedly said there were prior incidents of guns misfiring. According to a spokesperson from the sheriff’s office, the investigation of the incident is ongoing as to the projectile itself – „a focus of the investigation is what type it was and how did it get there.“ Regardless of what the investigation reveals, it seems clear that preventable negligence contributed to the death. Based on prior cases, it should have been crystal clear that no gun or projectile capable of being fired should have been on the set or anywhere near Baldwin and other actors. According to numerous newspaper reports, film productions still often use real guns loaded with blanks. Accordingly, these involve actual gun powder and a cartridge that can provide „a realistic-looking flame and spark.“ Burns and other minor injuries are common, but serious injuries and death are unusual.
