Your comments raise a good point: where do we draw the line with prosecuting someone for an accident?
I think Alec Baldwin should be prosecuted for manslaughter, given his lack of gun safety training and just basic stupidity, notwithstanding his hypocrisy for being anti-gun, yet making a movie involving guns and refusal to man up that he, and not the gun, was responsible.
I'm more inclined to support prosecuting the father in this situation, because there was no imminent threat, he should have had identified the intruder visually, and/or should challenged the intruder with verbal commands. Obviously, he lacked formal training in self-defense or at least failed to run through test scenarios with home intruders/burglars.
In contrast, I'm more sympathic toward Kim Potter, the Minnesota cop convicted of manslaughter last week. Potter meant to use her taser and made spontaneous utterances to that effect, but was also dealing with a suspect resisting arrest.
At some point, society has to prosecute accidental deaths to deter them and encourage citizens' diligence. If we blankedly refuse to prosecute intra-familal deaths, then family members could be inclined to murder each other and appear to make it look like an accident.
I agree 100%. I've made myself unpopular with many of my friends and my wife's friends by pointing out the obvious bits of the Potter case:
1) the need for any level of force at all would never have arose if Wright had not previously carried a handgun without a permit, and as such had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The decision to arrest was also prompted by a restraining order against Wright, and the presence of a woman in the car who had not yet been excluded as the basis of that restraining order. Wright's previous actions are what turned this from a simple citation to an arrest.
2) even with the arrest, had Wright not resisted and then attempted to flee in his vehicle not need for force would have existed. He brought this on himself.
3) a suspect attempting to flee in a vehicle with another officer still partly inside the vehicle and at imminent risk of serious bodily harm or death *was* a justification for lethal force.
4) Potter was charged and convicted because she immediately made an emotional statement after the shoot that she'd made a mistake. If she'd have lied and stated she intended to take Wright but at the last minute determined that would not have adequately addressed the threat to the other officer it would have been ruled a justified use of lethal force. That's a lesson you can bet nearly every police officer in the country has learned and taken to heart.
It also a lesson armed citizens should take to heart. After a shoot remain silent. If asked to give a statement, respectfully decline. If you say anything at all, just state you were in fear of your life, you are still emotionally upset and you'll give a full statement when you are ready and able (and you should under no circumstances be ready and able until after you've spoken with legal counsel).
5) Potter's mistaking a gun for a taser isn't common but it also isn't unheard of and it happens about once or two each a year. It's a known mistake that can be made under extreme stress. That is at odds with negligent intent.
6) the Potter prosecution is a great example of how the law as it pertains to jury trials has gotten out of hand. Some where along the line the role of the jury has been twisted from adding common sense and discretion to the legal process to instead only ruling on whether the letter of the law has been met - and juries are instructed to do just that, even when doing so flies in the face of common sense and an intelligent interpretation of the facts.
The same thing has occurred with mandatory sentencing laws that are intended to ensure sentencing isn't arbitrary or disparate, but instead remove nearly all discretion from the prosecution and the court. The 110 year sentence for the truck driver in CO is a prime example.
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Baldwin should be prosecuted in part because he was also the producer who underfunded the safety aspects of the set, including not hiring an arms master to properly manage the firearms and conduct essential safety briefings and weapons loading and clearing activities.
And as always, the actor actually shooting the gun should be properly trained to know and understand if it's loaded, if so what it is loaded with, and personally verify the status of the weapon.
Baldin failed on all counts.
