Alec Baldwin cops a walk

[LoboGunLeather]

Can a trial court judge dismiss charges "with prejudice" ?

As a general rule, prejudice attaches as soon as the trial is convened and both parties (prosecution and defense) announce their readiness to proceed. That would be necessary prior to the introduction of any motions, such as the motion to dismiss due to the alleged Brady violation; such motions cannot be entered or ruled upon without both parties present.

The court/presiding judge may act upon its own motion, but that is a rare occurrence. Usually, unless some motion is entered during the proceedings the court will allow just about anything to pass (it is not incumbent upon the presiding judge to act as legal counsel for either prosecution or defense, only to maintain orderly proceedings in accordance with established law and precedent).

 

[llowry61]

I watched some of the trial and saw the testimony of the Crime Scene Tech. She did not use the correct terminology when describing the different types of rounds she collected as evidence. I was really surprised by that. She understood the basic concepts on how the firearms functioned and the ammunition was built, but I was not really impressed.

I saw the mistrial but was unaware that it was declared with prejudice. I guess the judge must have believed the defendant was prejudiced beyond repair. From doing some quick research apparently this is legal in NM and some other states as well.

 

[Rudi]

This case's outcome was never in doubt.

Yep! Who'da thunk it?

 

[erikpolcrack]

Different caliber?

Correct me if I"m wrong but if you have a gun with chambers for the .45 Colt, it'll also take .44-40, .38-40 and .44 Special. Hence
the 4-in-1 Hollywood blank cartridges.

Accuracy with actual bullets will suffer but they can be fired at close ranges with reasonable hits.

Way back when they were called 5-in-1: 38-40, 44-40, 45 Colt in revolvers and 38-40, 44-40 in rifles. 45 Colt not then available in rifles. The three cited calibers have the same headsize. 44 Special has a smaller headsize. I don't think 5-in-1 blanks would fit in a 44 Special.

 

[Kanewpadle]

The elites always find a way. Us regular folks don’t stand a chance.

 

[smoothshooter]

No surprise there.
If you have a lot of money to spread around and the best lawyers money can buy, you have little to fear.
Unless you are Trump.

 

[SMSgt]

The less space and time that his name occupies in my mind the better.

Allow me to divert your attention--Taylor Swift!

 

[Erich]

Can a trial court judge dismiss charges "with prejudice" ?

Yes, and New Mexico takes discovery violations pretty seriously.

 

[smoothshooter]

Am I the only one who noticed there was a chain of custody issue with the real ammo? The prosecution said a “good Samaritan” came into the Sheriff’s office a few days after the shooting and handed over a box of real ammo he said he found somewhere on or around the set. He was supposed to be retired law-enforcement (does not matter) .Sheriff’s office logged it in as evidence. Just took his word for it.
That may have been a poisoned pill to sabotage the prosecution’s case as nature took it’s course.
Don’t get me wrong. Alec Baldwin is a good actor, but also a wretched human being. He was stupidly careless and has a reputation for lacking impulse control, as do many actors and others on the political left. I think he deserved prison time.

 

[Sistema1927]

The Santa Fe DA spent a ton of taxpayer money, went through a couple of high price special prosecutors, and then royally messed up. From the very beginning of the trial the prosecution was on the back foot with the defense painting a picture that you can't film a shoot 'em up flick without pointing guns at people, and that the actor was in character and depending upon others to ensure safety. The fact that Baldwin was a co-producer, and responsible for cheaping out on a qualified armorer, was blocked by the judge as a result of a defense motion before the jury was seated.

I'm pretty sure that he would have been acquitted based on all this, and getting it over sooner is going to save the taxpayers some money.

 

[Ματθιας]

Here's another question:

Attorney for 'Rust' armorer says others should have been charged criminally
Updated: 9:55 PM MST Mar 8, 2024
John Cardinale

'Rust' defense attorney says others should have been charged

...Bowles believes "Rust" prop master Sarah Zachary should have been criminally charged.

During her testimony, it was revealed after the shooting, she took two loaded guns and threw rounds from them away.

Those rounds were never recovered or investigated.

Zachary was never investigated criminally. ...

How is this not tampering with evidence?

 

[Alk8944]

As simply as it can be put the case was dismissed because the prosecutor failed to divulge evidence that could have been exculpatory. In short the prosecutor violated the "Rules of Evidence. Based on this the defense made a motion to dismiss which was granted by the trial judge. In situations like this it is very common for the motion to dismiss be granted "With Prejudice", which is the prerogative of the trial judge. In short, the prosecutor cheated!! The judge did the right thing.

After retirement I was working in an office environment at the time of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Based on my being retired LEO other employees asked what I thought would happen and I told them O.J. would be acquitted. My reasoning? The prosecution had already attempted to try the case in the media which corrupts the entire prospective jury pool! Remember what happened? He was acquitted, just as I predicted!

In both cases the prosecution violated the Rules of Evidence, same result!

 

[coltle6920]

Don't like Alec Baldwin either as an actor or a human being.

Having said that a lot of you think that Baldwin should have the same mentality towards gun handling and gun safety as we do. What is his history with firearms when off the set? Obviously he is as educated on firearms as the politicians who want to deny us our rights. Would you have the same opinion of guilt if it was Taylor Swift instead of Baldwin?

Seems to me that the chain of command for handling that weapon was at fault at least as far as on that particular set. If it means that all actors have to be trained in gun safety before handling a firearm then sobeit.

Maybe Baldwin's only guilty of hiring incompetent people.

 

[LVSteve]

After retirement I was working in an office environment at the time of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Based on my being retired LEO other employees asked what I thought would happen and I told them O.J. would be acquitted. My reasoning? The prosecution had already attempted to try the case in the media which corrupts the entire prospective jury pool! Remember what happened? He was acquitted, just as I predicted!

After I came to the US I was asked what he UK made of the OJ trial. I told them straight that if a UK police department took a pile similar to that offered by LAPD, the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would have turned round and told them flat out to stop wasting everyone's time. The so-called evidence custody trail was a joke.

 

[rwsmith]

I still think that.....

...'involuntary manslaughter' was the wrong charge. They should have tried him and the other producers for criminal negligence by creating a hazardous work environment exacerbated by hiring unqualified safety personnel and flaunting industry protocols involving firearms.

Even if the trial continued all they would prove is that he accidentally shot two people from a gun that was designated as a 'cold' gun.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Ms. Reed's lawyer has already announced they are appealing on the same grounds. Might even get some traction with it.

 

[BC38]

Yeah, what happened to our country being a nation of LAWS, not a nation of MEN?

What ever happened to the idea that everyone is judged equally and fairly under the law - regardless of their position in our society?

How is it that the rich and famous (Alex Baldwin, Jesse Smollett, et al) get a pass for having done things that would land us "regular" folks in prison for the rest of our lives?

I don't get it...

 

[dmar]

Yeah, what happened to our country being a nation of LAWS, not a nation of MEN?

What ever happened to the idea that everyone is judged equally and fairly under the law - regardless of their position in our society?

How is it that the rich and famous (Alex Baldwin, Jesse Smollett, et al) get a pass for having done things that would land us "regular" folks in prison for the rest of our lives?

I don't get it...

People that have spent time in the criminal justice system in our country understand that, in most cases, you get the justice that you can afford…

 

[jbtrucker]

Why was there live ammo on set is the question. And again as producer isn’t he somewhat or even completely responsible

I forgot who someone and others were shooting live rounds with it earlier. Baldwyn is low life there is a recording of him cursing and calling is daughter very vulgar names.

 

[Grayfox]

I'm not surprised at all. Our justice system is all about money. Justice has very little to do with it.
Baldwin was already known for being, well forum rules won't let me say it, shall we say difficult? He will no longer be remembered as the actor or star of this movie or that TV show. From now on he'll always be the idiot who's carelessness killed a woman. His career is done. Nobody in Hollywood wants anything to do with him. Even if he does get another role, nobody will go see him and the movie will flop. From what I understand, he had a huge amount of money tied up in "Rust".
Then there's the lawyer fees and I'm sure there will be civil suits. He may well go into bankruptcy. He's likely to spend the rest of his days broke and scorned. For someone like him, that's much worse than prison.