Hopefully this will remain my only blog entry that is not related directly to my novels…
The criminal charges against Alec Baldwin—manslaughter, involuntary—have been dropped.
The reasons for this are mentioned in the article. They all in one way or another, amount to ‘he couldn’t have known’.
From the Firearms Safetypage of State of California Department of Justice:
There are six basic gun safety rules for gun owners to understand and practice at all times:
Treat all guns as if they are loaded. Always assume that a gun is loaded even if you think it is unloaded. Every time a gun is handled for any reason, check to see that it is unloaded. If you are unable to check a gun to see if it is unloaded, leave it alone and seek help from someone more knowledgeable about guns.
This should be legally and ethically non-negotiable. The corollary to ‘he couldn’t have known’ is ‘he was under an obligation to check and verify that the weapon did not contain live rounds’.
Fortunately it appears that despite the ‘revelation of new facts’ related to the trigger, New Mexico special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said that the case requires further investigation and that the decision to drop the case ‘does not absolve Mr Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled. Our follow-up investigation will remain active and ongoing.
I hope that this really is not over. Baldwin held a gun in his hand, handling it in an unsafe and utterly irresponsible manner. This resulted in the death of a human being. In my view that is the real case; never mind technical excuses. The point is that if Baldwin, the last link in the chain of causes the led to the death of another human being had not neglected his obligations as the handler of a potentially deadly weapon, Halyna Hutchins would still be alive. He took her life. Nobody else.