Halyna Hutchins Shot With Prop Gun - Alec Baldwin indicted & Hannah Gutierrez-Reed charged, 2021 #8

[al66pine]

"Accident” or “Intention" in Invol Manslaughter?

Some posts discuss these two ^ words, defining & dissecting them, but I’m puzzled about why. The trial of AB is for NM crime of Involuntary Manslaughter.

Jury Instrxn for InvolMan in Hannah Guttierez-Reed’s April trial, IIUC per below, did NOT include the word “accident” or “intention.” (I subbed AB for HGR’s name, and “his” for “her.”):
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“- AB endangered the safety of another by handling or using a firearm in an unsafe manner;
“- AB should have known of the danger involved by his action;
“- AB acted with a willful disregard for the safety of others;
“- AB’s act caused the death of Halyna Hutchins.
“- This happened in NM on or about the 21st day of October 2021.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Willful disregard for the safety of others. Nothing about “accident” or “intention.”
Seems likely imo, that this ^ will be a Jury Instrxn in AB's trial. Imo

As always, welcoming comment or correction, esp’ly from our legal professionals.

_______________________________
* HGR Trial. InvolManslaughter, marked Instrxn “No. 12,” at page 13 of pdf:

https://nmcourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/March-8-2024-Jury-Instructions.pdf

 

[Slick762]

What was going on at that set for there to be live rounds all over the place?

This topic came up a lot during the HGR trial. There are some plausible ways it happened.
- HGR got live rounds for target practice and negligently brought them on set and mixed them with the dummy ammo. She had a police interview where she talks arrogantly about bad weapons and ammo handling and says she would dump a handful of dummies into her fanny pack and use them as she worked, rather than working from a tray of rounds that had already been properly checked.
- HGR got live rounds in order to make more dummy rounds and accidentally mixed them up. The set did have a shortage of dummy ammo. One of the tools she bought on the movie budget was a press to remove bullets from brass (take the round apart). She might have thought she could empty out some live rounds and press the bullets back in.
- HGR grabbed live rounds from her dad's place and thought they were dummies.
- Thell Reed accidentally gave her live rounds, thinking they were dummies.
- Seth accidentally or purposely gave her live rounds. That was the defenses version of what happened but there was no evidence to support that.

 

[clearskies1]

"Accident” or “Intention" in Invol Manslaughter?

Some posts discuss these two ^ words, defining & dissecting them, but I’m puzzled about why. The trial of AB is for NM crime of Involuntary Manslaughter.

Jury Instrxn for InvolMan in Hannah Guttierez-Reed’s April trial, IIUC per below, did NOT include the word “accident” or “intention.” (I subbed AB for HGR’s name, and “his” for “her.”):
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“- AB endangered the safety of another by handling or using a firearm in an unsafe manner;
“- AB should have known of the danger involved by his action;
“- AB acted with a willful disregard for the safety of others;
“- AB’s act caused the death of Halyna Hutchins.
“- This happened in NM on or about the 21st day of October 2021.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Willful disregard for the safety of others. Nothing about “accident” or “intention.”
Seems likely imo, that this ^ will be a Jury Instrxn in AB's trial. Imo

As always, welcoming comment or correction, esp’ly from our legal professionals.

_______________________________
* HGR Trial. InvolManslaughter, marked Instrxn “No. 12,” at page 13 of pdf:

https://nmcourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/March-8-2024-Jury-Instructions.pdf

Willful disregard sounds like recklessness or gross negligence. The risk is high because it involves a deadly weapon. You must take great care.... along those lines. JMO.

 

[10ofRods]

Willful disregard sounds like recklessness or gross negligence. The risk is high because it involves a deadly weapon. You must take great care.... along those lines. JMO.

And that's why this trial in New Mexico is taking place.

 

[Universecalling]

I know all this.

It was NOT destroyed, however. That is simply incorrect language. It is blatantly untrue.

Say that I kill someone in my car driving at 70 mph. The police take my car and do tests with it. During those tests they decide to do an emergency stop test at 140 mph (analogous to the unnecessary test the FBI did on the gun) and blow out the two front tyres due to the extreme nature of the test.

Is it an honest thing to say that my car has been destroyed?

No, it's not!

Is it an honest thing to say that my defence team are incapable of testing my car?

No it's not!

A family member was in a roll over crash recently.
The entire family has been using the word destroyed when describing the car.
It can absolutely be put back together with new parts. But, let’s face it… it’s destroyed.

 

[clearskies1]

So the judge ruled today that some of Alec's statements can come in. She said that the State can introduce Alec's comments (during his interview on the day of the shooting) that show he had knowledge that blanks can kill someone. She also said that the State can bring in some statements that it claims show that he was not as upset as the defense says he was after the shooting. I'm not entirely clear what those statements are -- it may have to do with him planning a family trip. It's all drawn out but both argument/rulings take place starting at 4:57:57 below and extending for about 30 minutes after that. JMO.

 

[Snoopster]

I'm sorry that I haven't been following this case, but was this from today? (i.e. AB storming out of the courtroom) Or was this from a previous hearing?

 

[clearskies1]

I'm sorry that I haven't been following this case, but was this from today? (i.e. AB storming out of the courtroom) Or was this from a previous hearing?

Yes, it was today.