[MT2008]

I knew the case wasn't closed, but I am surprised to hear that these charges will be filed. Quite frankly, it sounds like a pretty weak case to me, but we'll see how it goes. The negligence charge is going to be very difficult to argue given that Alec Baldwin was told by the assistant director that he had a cold gun; his defense is going to argue that his only crime was taking that statement at face value.

I'm also not terribly sympathetic to either of them at this point, given the comments that both have made publicly which indicate a failure to show genuine remorse or accept responsibility. Alec Baldwin has obviously done himself no favors by constantly claiming he didn't pull the trigger on the gun, even though the FBI forensics analyst who looked at the revolver determined it had no mechanical issues and couldn't have fired any other way. (Side note: in the process of trying to cover his ass, he's made himself the target of far too many memes in our community.) I also think that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has similarly played herself by constantly issuing statements that the live ammo got onto the set as the result of "sabotage" - when you have to resort to conspiracy theories to prove your innocence, it goes without saying that you have a credibility problem.

I mostly just feel bad for the family of Halyna Hutchins and (to a lesser extent) Hannah's Dad. Even though he's (mostly) retired at this point, this has gotta be really hard on Thell Reed, both personally and professionally. I also feel bad for the Hollywood armorer community and all the BS that they've had to endure in the press from ignorant blowhards talking about how this incident proves that real guns should be banned on movie sets. It's also been surprising to me to see who's proven to be on their side (George Clooney) vs. who hasn't (Dwayne Johnson and Michael Chiklis).