Criminal Justice

Billy Binion | 7.11.2024 4:59 PM

Two core details in the Alec Baldwin trial are not up for debate. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after she was shot on the set of the movie Rust. Baldwin was the one with the gun.

So his involuntary manslaughter case may sound open and shut. It isn't—but probably not for the reason you think.

There's been a great deal of back-and-forth, for example, around Baldwin's claim that he didn't pull the trigger and that the gun instead malfunctioned. A forensics report disputed that. But prosecutors still face an uphill battle due to the contours of the law itself.

Core to securing an involuntary manslaughter conviction in New Mexico is that the government must prove criminal negligence. On its face, it doesn't........

© Reason.com