I found this one with actual footage and more information about the set and surprising info on live bullets in the box.
I've watched a few things on it. I don't like Alec Baldwin, so I was hoping they'd execute him or at least deport him to Canada, or China, or something.
So that trial is on Court TV? I might have to tune in when I get bored. I used to love to watch murder trials like Jodi Arias and Casey Anthony, and that recent one Alex Murdaugh.
Now and then it comes up on YT news, this one was most detail I've seen, but then I don't look for it.
Every time you think it couldn't be worse, it is. I've already picked lots of suspects. This would make a good thriller.
I've not followed this enough to know where he has culpability. If the prop man hands an actor a supposedly fake gun but it's real and loaded, I don't think the actor has a duty to check it. I know folks on gun forums want him persecuted because he's anti-2A, but I've not paid enough attention to know if it goes beyond that.
I think the fact that I don't like him should be enough for a conviction, but if you need more, he wasn't just an actor on the set; he was the producer, and he apparently pressured the armorer for another take, according to a Variety article. I don't actually know a whole lot about it, though.
I know he gets a trial by a jury of his peers, but how are you gonna get 12 narcissists to elect someone else as foreperson, much less agree on anything? I did not know he was more than just an actor on the set. I've skimmed a number of threads about this on forums, and I've yet to see anything but vitriol for the guy. I'm shocked that Hollywood would use a real gun...it should be easy enough to make a safe, realistic replica or to remove firing pins and disable triggers. Even the wadding from blanks can do nasty things to a person. I wonder if this is the norm.
What a waste of public money this whole thing has been. The man is guilty of manslaughter. He broke all the safety rules and is responsible for a woman's death. Why does he keep insisting that he didn't pull the trigger?
As an experienced gun guy, it looks like they always use real guns in movies - for realism, I imagine. But there are many checks in place so these things don't happen - provided the person in charge of weapons is not brain dead. The blank ammo used has to look real to viewers, but there is no gunpowder in the case. There are holes drilled into the side of each blank cartridge. If there was any gunpowder in the case, anyone would see it falling out. There are also steel pellets in the case that rattle to let everyone know they are blanks. Often times in shooting scenes, a completely empty gun is "fired" & the noise & flash are added in later. In this case, it was a low-budget movie & they used an inexperienced, careless and moronic person to be in charge of weapons. Her concentration may have been affected by her partying the night before - which some people said included lots of alcohol, cocaine & other drugs. Her father is a well-known competitive shooter and gun expert (Thell Reed) who probably got her the job - which was her second job on a movie set. When the tragedy was first reported, I read that several actors & employees did some target shooting in back of the church during filming breaks (with live ammo of course). That may be how some live rounds were left in the gun - without being checked later during rehearsals (again, the job of the woman on trial). And, (as other workers testified,) there were several other accidental discharges of guns during filming and rehearsal and horsing around - which indicates the careless attitude. An employee on the set who was familiar with firearms described how he considered quitting the job after the second one. The tragedy was only a matter of time.
I had heard that Baldwin was making the movie on the cheap, so he didn't want to pay an experienced armorer and got the one he used "on the cheap". Don't know if it is true or not. I watched some of what was on Court TV and they were questioning people about delay in calling for help. Apparently there was a delay of 90 minutes for some reason. I don't know if the delay was calling 911 or if it was difficult to get to the site due to remoteness. I would think the armorer would unload and reload the weapon before every shoot. I think that is what I would do to make sure nobody accidentally or intentionally loaded one or more real rounds. Also, the big reason I hate toy guns. It fosters a casual attitude toward firearms, and can sometimes be mistaken for real weapons by first responders.
Geez, 90 minute delay with a wound that (among other damage) severed her spinal cord? (The director reached her first & testified that her last words were, "I can't feel my legs." No chance of survival.