Legal Expert Weighs In On Alec Baldwin Shooting Incident; Discusses Potential Prison Time, Co-Producer Role

Attorney Andrew Branca of Law of Self Defense weighed in Friday on the Alec Baldwin on-set shooting incident that left one dead, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and another injured, director Joel Souza.

Branca, who notably offered insight into the Derek Chauvin case last year, ran through legal possibilities Baldwin might be faced with over the fatal shooting, stressing that he’s operating on hypotheticals based on news reports and court documents — not on what actually happened, as that still remains unverified.

He also discussed potential liability for Baldwin, who is reportedly a co-producer for the movie “Rust.”

The fatal shooting could be argued to be an accident, prove negligence, or be classified as recklessness or involuntary manslaughter — a worst-case scenario for the actor, Branca said in an 18-minute video.

The attorney noted that, for this case, involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico would be classified as a fourth-degree felony, which is typically punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

Here’s Branca’s commentary concerning the argument that the shooting was an accident, per Law of Self Defense:

What might an genuine accident with a handgun look like? Well, imagine a gun that has an unseen defect, such that when the barrel is brought up to the horizontal position the gun discharges without any press of the trigger.

This is clearly not how a gun is supposed to fire, nor would any reasonable person expect a gun to fire under such circumstances.

If the gun being handled by Alec Baldwin is found to have such a defect, and his handling of the gun was otherwise non-negligent, he would have a good argument that the gun discharging and killing Ms. Hutchins was a genuine accident for which he should bear no civil or criminal liability.

Here’s what the case for negligence would look like (emphasis added):

In our hypothetical with the defective gun, for example, it may be true that the discharge of the gun was not foreseeable by Alec Baldwin, and therefore not really in his control—but the direction in which the gun was pointed certainly was in his control.

The death of Ms. Hutchins by the discharge of the gun could not have occurred had the gun not been pointed at her—and that pointing of the gun at her would certainly seem to constitute negligence.

Anyone trained in firearms safety—and anyone handling an inherently dangerous instrument like a firearm can be reasonably expected to have a duty to

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