ElastiGirl For The Prosecution, Pt. II

Pull up a comfortable chair, and grab a cold drink. We herewith continue the fisking of this gargantuan prosecutorial farce, picking up where we left off. And there's a loooong way to go yet.

"Finally, BALDWIN directly pointed a firearm at HUTCHINS and SOUZA. Whether guided by her directions or not, BALDWIN knew the first rule of gun safety is never point a gun at someone you don't intend on shooting. In addition, always assume a gun is loaded. Had BALDWIN performed the required safety checks with the armorer, REED, this tragedy would not have occurred. In addition, if BALDWIN had not pointed the gun at HUTCHINS and SOUZA, this tragedy would not have occurred."

At this point, Chief Persecutor Altwies switches from simple jackassical lawyering, to outright shitting in a projectile manner out of her largest orifice. (To be fair, her chief investigator is responsible for the pages of jackassical allegations after Page Two, and is proof you could swing dead cats in every police station you entered, and never worry about hitting a Mensa member or a Ph.D.)

Quoting verbatim from the relevant Industry-Wide Safety Guideline: 

"Refrain from pointing a firearm at anyone, including yourself. If it is absolutely necessary to do so on camera, consult the Property Master (or, in his/her absence, the weapons handler and/or other appropriate personnel determined by the locality or the needs of the production) or other safety representative, such as the First A.D./Stage Manager."

Because in Hollywood, guns get pointed at other people twenty times a day.

Only someone with pure shit for brains would say otherwise, in contradiction of tens of thousands of examples, going back decades, and with zero problems for 28 years, and only two fatal incidents in a century, one of them self-induced by the idiot actor shooting himself in the head with "just a blank".

Pointing the gun at the camera, cocking it, and pulling the trigger, in this instance, was the entire point of this specific rehearsal.

Furthermore, there was no "required safety check" that Baldwin was obligated by custom and practice to perform nor participate in, and in actual point of fact, any actor inserting themselves in the loading process would be told firmly to fuck right off, the first time, and sent home the second time. There would be no third time, because they wouldn't be on that movie any more. Actors don't load guns, gaffers don't move sandbags, makeup people don't run generators, and directors don't paint sets. Directors tell actors what to do, and actors do it. Weapons handlers load weapons, and hand them to actors. It's that simple. There were live rounds in Baldwin's gun solely and entirely because Reed and Halls fucked that up. Period. Full stop. End of story.

It wasn't Baldwin's job to check, witness, nor even necessarily be in the same zip code when his prop gun was loaded with dummy rounds. It was the Armorer's Assistant (Halls') job to witness the loading with dummy rounds by Prop Tart Reed, and it was he who handed the pistol to Baldwin, assuring him and the entire assembled crew, including Hutchins and Souza, that it was a "cold (not loaded with anything dangerous) gun". He's pled guilty to failing to perform that duty circumspectly. Reed's job was to load the gun with dummy rounds, and be in eyeball distance of that weapon at all times until it was returned to her armorer's cart. She was not to have any live rounds anywhere on that set, ever, and all rounds - dummy, blank, and live - should have been conspicuously marked to determine at a glance which was which.

{It's noteworthy that even the FBI Crime Lab could only tell what was what by kinetically pulling the rounds apart into their component pieces. Just like some online dipshits probably think actors would do on set every single time just before the camera rolls, right?}

Altwies charged Baldwin because she claims Baldwin:

*recklessly deviated from known standards and practice and protocol (he did no such thing)

*failed to receive ½ an hour of additional weapons training from a rank amateur (after the prosecutor herself certified Baldwin in her sworn statement of fact as having "extensive experience" with firearms)

*deviating from the required duties (there are no such "required duties" for actors, only for armorers and their assistants)

*letting the armorer leave the set against protocol (armorers answer to the 1st AD, not the actors, and the actor has no say whatsoever in what other people on set do or do not do)

*deviating from the practice of accepting the weapon only from the armorer (in fact, 1AD Halls deviated from the practice, by becoming the armorer's assistant himself, and as the person with the final say for safety on set, is the only one culpable for deviating from safety protocol)

*not dealing with safety complaints on set (that responsibility lies primarily with confessed reckless felon/1st AD Halls. Whom the prosecutor has already gifted with probation. And the person in charge of managing a production unit is cleverly called the Unit Production Manager, who was also not named Alec Baldwin. They, and they alone, deal with safety on set.)

*not making sure the protocol of safety meetings was occurring (again, that function is the sole purview of the UPM, and primarily in nearly every case on sets, the 1stAD: Halls)

*putting his finger on a real gun (It was Reed's job to make sure it was a prop gun, not a real gun, and the script and director, as well as the armorer and 1stAD were well aware that the script called for putting his finger on the trigger for that exact rehearsal and scene)

*not using a replica firearm for the unscheduled rehearsal (that was entirely Reed's decision and job for every minute of the production, without any excuse, unless she was mentally incapacitated or physically absent from the crew, in which case it would fall to the Prop Master or asst. weapons handler, about both of whom more presently)

*pointing the gun at HUTCHINS and SOUZA (exactly as they knew he would, as directed on the day, and according to the script and plot worked out days to months in advance)

*and the overall handling of the firearm in a negligent manner (which the prosecution has failed to demonstrate in any way, shape, or form, except to shift everyone else's jobs on the production onto Baldwin's shoulders, in contravention of all standard production practice and protocols, black-letter industry-wide safety guidelines in place since decades before Baldwin even entered the profession, all common Western jurisprudence since Hammurabi, and naked common sense)

In short, the prosecution's standard of conduct requires Baldwin, and every actor, to be clairvoyant, enslave other crew members, and take dictatorial control of the entire production, in contravention of any standards of common behavior, and violations of multiple binding legal agreements between dozens of motion picture and television producers, hundreds of union locals, and half a million production members in all those crafts and guilds, not least of which the P.G.A., the D.G.A., the IATSE of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA, and any number of ancillary entities, which violates federal and state labor laws in 50 states and 7 US territories, plus Canada.

Well-played, Madame Shitforbrains. Now sit the fuck down, and shut the fuck up about what you self-evidently know neither Jack, nor Shit.

But she's just getting warmed up!!!

She then tries to double-dip, and dunk on Baldwin as one of the producers on the show. She claims Baldwin is an expert on firearms based on performances in forty films or productions where he handled weapons, and then tasks him for a missing 30 whole minutes on this show, from an amateur so rank she didn't even have the requisite 30 days on union productions sufficient to apply for a union card in the Property Guild, and who admitted in multiple places (quickly purged from social media after the shooting on Rust) she felt she was in over her head on even this scrawny half-assed 18-day production (a typical minimal Hollywood production would run 30-90 days, minimum. This was shooting-it-on-credit-cards schlock, about a half step above a junior college stage play in the park). What Baldwin was going to learn in 30 additional minutes out of 60 that he hadn't been drilled on during 40 other real-deal productions is unlikely to have made any functional difference, and doubly so with someone who had left live ammo laying around all over set, without either a care or a clue.

Altwies also wrongly assumes Baldwin's job, as a producer, was to ensure industry standards were met. The problem with that is, Baldwin was a creative producer: he created the story, which director Souza turned into a screenplay and working script. That, and showing up to act, was the entire extent of Baldwin's "producing" responsibilities.

When there's a gaggle of producers (like the 10-12 associated with Rust) some producers - like Baldwin - are creative types. Some are merely "the money", and are usually titled "Executive Producers". But because you can't make a dinner with ten or twelve chefs, one of the gaggle of producers is usually titled "Line Producer". He's the "yes or no" man, who, in conjunction with (and/or sometimes in the dual role of) the UPM, decides what will be done, day to day, on any production set. They decide what expenditures, cast, and crew, are either in, or out, what will be done, and what won't, and come down like a hammer to axe ideas, hire and fire people, and generally crack the whip to keep things moving from Page 1 to The End.

That person, on Rust, was also not named Alec Baldwin. Baldwin thus had no duty to ensure anygoddamnedthingwhatsoever on Rust, other than showing up to set on time, and knowing his lines. Failure to do that would get him fired, and wrap the production. But it's certainly not a chargeable criminal offense.

In fact, what the prosecution is alleging as criminal conduct, was his exact presence on set, rehearsing a scene as directed, and doing exactly what he was hired and paid to do as an actor: point a prop weapon at the camera, cock the gun, and pull the trigger.

The total number of live rounds that are supposed to be fired on any set, ever, anywhere, is exactly ZERO.

When that doesn't happen, the only person or persons who can ever be responsible, are the weapons handler/propmaster, and their weapons assistant.

Who acquired the prop weapons for this show? Reed.

Who was responsible for ensuring training took place? Reed.

Who brought the guns to set? Reed.

Who was responsible to supervise, eyeballs-on, all weapons at all times on set? Reed.

Who was responsible for maintaining custody of all ammo - dummy, blank, and live - on set, at all times? Reed.

Who was responsible for conspicuously marking all live rounds, so that they could be seen at a glance by anyone, and not confused with dummy or blank rounds? Reed.

Who was responsible to keep all live rounds locked up, and not anywhere near prop guns on a working set? Reed.

Who loaded the live rounds into Baldwin's prop gun? Probably Reed. (More to come on that score, later in this post, in due course.)

Assisted/double-checked by? Halls.

Once loading was accomplished, who was responsible to hand out weapons on set? Reed and Halls.

Who was responsible to stay with all weapons until they were turned back in? Reed and/or Halls.

If all of that, or even just most of that, had occurred, the incident in question wouldn't have.

"Evidence shows that REED possessed no certification or certifiable training, or union "card" for this practice, and that she admitted she was the armorer for only one (1) film prior to this production, approximately in April of 2021."

(During filming of which earlier shitshow, The Old Ways, it is alleged that Nicolas Cage himself screamed at Reed for her incompetence for having a blank go off in one of multiple NDs that "just blew my fucking eardrums out!!!". Remember that Nicolas Cage is actually Nicolas Coppola. As in Francis Ford's nephew. Never take sides against the Family. Reed's Hollywood career is, thankfully, deader than Fredo after a Tahoe fishing trip. Which will save countless lives going forward.)

Baldwin was responsible for no aspect whatsoever of direct production work on Rust, not for hiring or firing of crew members, nor for ascertaining their certifications and training (nor lack thereof), nor for what additional duties were assigned to her (such as property assistant), nor enforcing any safety rules on set, at any time, ever.

The person(s) who do that on every production since ever are the 1st Assistant Director (Dave Halls) Unit Production Manager, (not Baldwin), and the line producer (also not Baldwin).

"Evidence also shows that Sarah Zachary was hired as the prop master for the production. It also shows that she was assigned to assist REED with her armoring[sic] duties. Evidence and statements show that Sarah Zachary possessed little to no experience with firearms, firearm safety, armorer duties and responsibilities, etc. it also shows that Sarah Zachary was assigned to/allowed to load and unload ammunition in firearm(s), handle firearm(s), and act as an armorer when on-set with actors/doubles taking possession of the firearms. Evidence shows this was done multiple times and without REED being on the set as well. Evidence shows...the production team's awareness..."

"Prior to the shooting incident, Sarah Zachary had a negligent discharge while handling a revolver intended to be used by an actor in the filming. This weapon was not BALDWIN's weapon but had similar/same mechanical function and appearance (single action revolver) and was intended for use by the "...marshals...". Statements show that Sarah Zachary was holding and manipulating the weapon while walking and she discharged a blank cartridge  {unless FBI-supervised forensic archaeology was performed at that location, and no expended slug was found to a depth of several feet, that was a LIVE round, not a BLANK round, until proven innocent.-A.}  into the ground next to her foot. Industry standards, practices, and protocols consider negligent discharge(s) reckless in nature that require immediate action and/or swift and certain mediation up to and including remedial training, demotion, removal from the set, termination, etc."  {In point of fact, there is no such standard or protocol extant, and NDs "require" no such thing in the industry, but common sense does, and that's why she should have been thrown dafuq off the set, same day, hard enough that her ass wouldn't have bounced between the boot planted there at the UPM's office door and her car in the crew parking lot, and probably escorted by security all the way off the movie ranch. - A.} 

"Also prior to the shooting incident, another ND was committed by a stunt double as he was handling/manipulating a lever action period rifle, loaded and left unattended with the stunt performer while in a holding tent."

Jesus H. Christ, was there any adult supervision anywhere on that entire production???

Oh FUCK NO, because the person on set directly responsible for set safety is the 1st Assistant Director. Dave Halls. The guy who double-checked - or at least, was *supposed* to do so - Baldwin's (and all the other) guns, and who has already pled guilty to reckless criminal negligence resulting in the death of director of photography Halyna Hutchins, and the wounding of Director Joel Souza.

"Evidence indicates that that on or about the 13th day of filming, only three (3) or four (4) safety meetings were conducted by the assistant director. Practice and standards investigated indicated that a daily safety meeting should be conducted with the crew, regardless of the scenes for the day's shoot. The lack of meetings and the lack of appropriate conduct of said meetings resulted in a climate of recklessness as evidenced by the conduct of the cast and crew documented through statements and evidence. In addition, no safety meeting was conducted on the day of the incident. Safety meetings were supposed to be listed on the call sheet daily but were not. Meetings were called randomly throughout the day, but with no mandatory attendance required. These meetings should, pursuant to standard protocols, be conducted prior to the beginning of the day, where all members of the cast and crew should be required to attend." 

Kudos. That last paragraph, after 11 pages in the statement of charges, is the first time the prosecutor uttered three lines in a row without either lying, or fucking up the standards so hard they'll never walk straight again. (But to be honest, she bungled the entire first line, which you can find at the Daily Mail link, wherein she tried to dishonestly palm the problems onto Baldwin, for the fortieth or fiftieth time. Habits die hard when you're this much of an idiot, I suppose.)

"On October 20,2021, the original camera crew resigned, citing safety concerns, commute times, pay, and other issues."

"On the day of the shooting...Evidence and statements show that the 1st Assistant Director, David Halls (hereinafter HALLS) was present on the set. ...Evidence and standards show that HALLS had the additional duty of 'safety coordinator' by virtue of his position. However, that position does not afford the handling or manipulation of firearms."

"Evidence and statements also show that HALLS, by virtue of his position, is the first point of contact for an armorer when they bring a firearm on set and is the first person required to conduct a safety check with the armorer and weapon. {The first part of that is correct, and the second is pure bullshit. There is no "required safety check" with the 1stAD, and everything that follows in that paragraph is continued total horseshit pulled out of someone's ass. And prosecutor, true to form, after damning Halls' failures ten different ways, tries to make it Baldwin's fault. Again. -A.}

"HALLS, again, by virtue of his position and industry standards and practices, is prohibited and/or strictly discouraged from handling any of the firearms on a set. As such, industry standards, policies and practices call for the armorer to be on set and to stay on set any time a firearm is on set." 

Madame Lafarge then goes on to document another baker's dozen of serial and grossly negligent fuck-ups and failures by HALLS, REED, and ZACHARY, and then tries to shoehorn them all up Baldwin's ass because "one of ten or twelve producers."

So, let's get this straight:

The armorer was incompetent, and failed to do her job 57 different ways. The Prop Master was grossly and recklessly incompetent. The stunt people were incompetent. The 1st AD should never have been in the chain of firearms handling, checking, or custody, and was incompetent another 57 ways, and has pled guilty already to being grossly and criminally negligent resulting directly in the death of another person. The UPM and/or Line Producer hired all these bozos, knowingly, and knowing all the ways weapons violations protocols were being buttfucked on-set, daily, to the point that the entire camera crew, save Hutchins, had already walked right the fuck off the set the day before the shooting (and saved their own lives, obviously.) But neither/both of them didn't address any of these concerns despite losing their entire camera crew the day before, and didn't fire anybody in the whole fucked up bunch of assclowns, ever. For anything.

So let's charge Baldwin, rather than most of these walking assclowns, because we don't like him, it'll draw more media coverage, and because he had nothing to do with any of this?!?

That's the entire prosecution's case.

Altwies already pled 1st AD Halls out, despite him being nearly 50% of the culpable in this case. She isn't charging Propdisaster Zachary, who may well have swapped live rounds in for dummy rounds, through sheer ignorance, at any point in this misbegotten clown show clusterfuck. She isn't charging the UPM, who's directly responsible for addressing the safety concerns she tries to pack up Baldwin's ass. She isn't charging any Line Producer, nor so much as a single other one of the entire gaggle of producers, for all the multitudinous failures to follow basic safety rules on set.

Just Baldwin, and Prop Tart. 

And Prop Tart Reed absolutely owns 51% of this mess, having violated virtually every single safety reg that exists. Multiple times, on only her second film outing. Way to go, nepotistic assclown!

In Summary

Whoever the chief investigator relied upon for "standard industry practice, custom, and protocol" did them no favors, materially lying about numerous supposed non-existent "protocols". It may be what they do, but it isn't "industry standard", "customary" nor "practice". The Industry-Wide Safety Bulletins, (as the name implies) however, are gospel throughout the United States and Canada, and rather than being written on air, or pulled out from up someone's ass, are searchable online, and have been for twenty years. They are authoritative. Sumdood who did props once, at BuffaloHump, NM, isn't going to stack up well against them.

At the end of the day, Baldwin did his job, as required, and following the script of the production, and all safety customs, practices, and protocols, as far as it was within his own power to do so, by all testimony and evidence. It was not and cannot be his fault, nor responsibility, to do the job of everyone else on set, when they manifestly failed to perform their own job duties, failing basic common sense and industry practices, over and over again. And one of whom has already pled guilty to the exact crime(s) and "reckless criminal negligence resulting in manslaughter" at issue.

The chain of assclowns on that show who screwed the pooch by the numbers, is now hovering at between two and six people, just based on the charging statements. And none of them is named Alec Baldwin.

If Baldwin's attorney(s) doesn't mop the floor with this special ed prosecutor's half-assed fairytales and nonsense, and leave her as a bleeding quivering mass on the courthouse floor by the time he's done, he should be disbarred for gross incompetence and mental retardation.

Baldwin's one helluva good actor, and a total asswipe douchecanoe regarding his political and 2A views. He also deserves all the personal comeuppance for what happened, after all his bloviating crap about guns and gun owners in America. Karma's a bitch, and my epicaricacy knows no bounds. But he's also legally innocent of any wrongdoing in this case.

And now, Baldwin's future is going to be in the hands of twelve people too stupid to avoid jury duty. That should make some of you out there very happy. Be careful what you wish for. 

And mind your own ass when the worm turns and wants a piece of you.