Halyna Hutchins Shot With Prop Gun - Alec Baldwin indicted & Hannah Gutierrez-Reed charged, 2021 #7

[Cool Cats]

Morrissey is not a prosecutor. She’s a defense attorney and a civil rights lawyer - a special prosecutor just for this case. I think that’s worth repeating because it helps put her demeanor in context. I haven’t seen anything from her that demonstrates untrustworthiness. Literally, nothing. I can see how her demeanor might put people off but it doesn’t mean she’s deceptive. She checked Spiro at the end of the hearing for totally misrepresenting what she said. JMO

Well, I think the State of NM was looking at the long game with Alec Baldwin. Hiring a defense attorney as prosecutor might be helpful when cross examining (attacking) Alec on the stand. I believe Alec will take the stand.

 

[Betty P]

Morrissey is not a prosecutor. She’s a defense attorney and a civil rights lawyer - a special prosecutor just for this case. I think that’s worth repeating because it helps put her demeanor in context. I haven’t seen anything from her that demonstrates untrustworthiness. Literally, nothing. I can see how her demeanor might put people off but it doesn’t mean she’s deceptive. She checked Spiro at the end of the hearing for totally misrepresenting what she said. JMO

Actually, that explains why she decided to "bend the rules" when it came to the GJ. Defense attorneys are given more leeway by the court because of the nature of their job. The burden is on the state to prove a defendant is guilty. Defense attorneys are allowed more "wiggle room". Because they represent the state, prosecutors have to be more fair and ethical towards the defendant in order to protect their rights to a fair hearing or trial. Morrissey isn't accustomed to that. JMO

 

[mickey2942]

I thought you were referring to HGR's appeal. Both HGR and Alec Baldwin are on this thread.

Thank you for updating us on Alec. His trial is only 2 months away last I heard.

I wonder if they should have separate threads now.

 

[Cool Cats]

I wonder if they should have separate threads now.

Nothing to post about HGR.

 

[Slick762]

Just randomly clicked on this as it's one of my fave movies. It's got a lot of info in it I never knew.

Anyway, if you skip forward to 08:20 one of the things mentioned is a reference to the fact that in order to make the blanks sound louder and more realistic, someone on the production suggested packing the blank rounds out with a plaster plug to raise the pressure. Hanna Reed, I'm sure, mentioned something similar in one of her police interviews - I think she said that some of the blanks had plaster "bullets" to make them look like live rounds. Just a curious similarity.

It sounds insanely dangerous to me as they were using them in actual gunfight scenes - and clearly was dangerous as several of the cast, including Emilio Estevez, were hit by these clay "bullets" with him actually having to go to hospital to get checked out!

And it was filmed at Bonanza Creek.

I really don't want to subject myself to those interview videos again but there's no way in hell anyone is using plaster in anyway for any kind of blank/dummy/live rounds on set.
Even if it's just a dummy round, plaster would break apart and potentially leave debris in a barrel, leading to another Crow situation.
If she did say plaster, I'd chalk that up to her already established lack of knowledge and tendency to run her mouth and people she thinks she's smarter than. And she did that more than a few times in her interview videos.

edit: a type of wax is used for what's called simunitions and there's other types of specialty ammo that uses various materials so it's possible someone out there makes some sort of plaster training round but that's not applicable to this case.

 

[ch_13]

Morrissey said.....

“I have no idea what Mr. Spiro is talking about. Everything he is saying to you right now is complete misrepresentation of what has happened, that’s what these people do."

I don't know what Morrisey's problem is. She seems to have a real chip on her shoulder. I recall that half of her motion was basically her whining about the defense.

Maybe this style works well as a defense attorney, but I'm not so sure it'll work as a prosecutor. I think most people think of DAs as dispassionate to some degree. They aren't prosecuting someone because they hate them, but rather because it's their job as an employee of the state.

If the jury gets the sense that Morrisey has some kind of personal vendetta here, I don't think it will bode well for her case. And she may also want to consider that Sante Fe is a big retirement destination. It's likely that at least a couple of the jurors will have moved there from other parts of the country. Cracks about "New York lawyers" may not play as well as she thinks.

 

[Cool Cats]

I don't know what Morrisey's problem is. She seems to have a real chip on her shoulder. I recall that half of her motion was basically her whining about the defense.

Maybe this style works well as a defense attorney, but I'm not so sure it'll work as a prosecutor. I think most people think of DAs as dispassionate to some degree. They aren't prosecuting someone because they hate them, but rather because it's their job as an employee of the state.

If the jury gets the sense that Morrisey has some kind of personal vendetta here, I don't think it will bode well for her case. And she may also want to consider that Sante Fe is a big retirement destination. It's likely that at least a couple of the jurors will have moved there from other parts of the country. Cracks about "New York lawyers" may not play as well as she thinks.

If she is making remarks about New York lawyers plus using the terms "That's what these people do,"
then it sounds like her chip is a personal vendetta against a rich celebrity.

Right, jurors expect a certain level of professionalism and many jurors could be retired there, having lived elsewhere.

The general public - jurors - want fair play. Rich celebrities shouldn't be above the law but it is a double edged sword. People also don't want to see a defendant targeted just because he is a rich celebrity.

2 Cents

 

[Weki]

I think it’s interesting that the defense attorneys totally misrepresented what she said in that hearing and called her a liar, essentially, and yet there’s a feeling that Morrissey is the one who is deceptive and has a vendetta. These trials are contentious with advocates on both sides attacking each other. The temperature goes up depending on the style of the lawyers on one or both sides. Morrissey is not a wilting flower for sure, but she’s getting many attacks from the Baldwin defense team. Morrissey has a right to be indignant because as Judge Sommer never fails to remind us there was a death in this case. AB pointed a gun and pulled the trigger at the victim killing her and putting a bullet in the director.

I see no issue with Morrissey pointing out that this big Hollywood actor wants to get away with it. It’s absolutely within the bounds. The defense has accused the state of doing a political hit job on AB. Shots are being fired from both sides. AB is not some poor underprivileged kid. He’s someone with a lot of power who by his negligent actions killed a crew member. And who has since acted like the victim, blamed the victim, and done everything to say he’s totally blameless in the incident. As an advocate for Halyna Hutchins, I hope Morrissey rakes him over the coals at trial and in the court of public opinion! If defendants want to fight a public opinion war, the state has every right to respond.

JMO

 

[ch_13]

I think it’s interesting that the defense attorneys totally misrepresented what she said in that hearing and called her a liar, essentially, and yet there’s a feeling that Morrissey is the one who is deceptive and has a vendetta. These trials are contentious with advocates on both sides attacking each other. The temperature goes up depending on the style of the lawyers on one or both sides. Morrissey is not a wilting flower for sure, but she’s getting many attacks from the Baldwin defense team. Morrissey has a right to be indignant because as Judge Sommer never fails to remind us there was a death in this case. AB pointed a gun and pulled the trigger at the victim killing her and putting a bullet in the director.

I see no issue with Morrissey pointing out that this big Hollywood actor wants to get away with it. It’s absolutely within the bounds. The defense has accused the state of doing a political hit job on AB. Shots are being fired from both sides. AB is not some poor underprivileged kid. He’s someone with a lot of power who by his negligent actions killed a crew member. And who has since acted like the victim, blamed the victim, and done everything to say he’s totally blameless in the incident. As an advocate for Halyna Hutchins, I hope Morrissey rakes him over the coals at trial and in the court of public opinion! If defendants want to fight a public opinion war, the state has every right to respond.

JMO

I never said Morrisey is deceptive, but she does seem to take this case very personally and in the end that may hurt her in front of a jury who may not share her viewpoint. To me she seems to be marking her territory and is getting triggered by these out-of-town lawyers. Her motions are filled with odd details, like this:






What exactly is that parenthetical about local counsel and why does she think it belongs in a court filing?

For the record, I'm not pro-prosecution or pro-defense, I just think it's bizarre.

edit -
By the way, I looked up the judge's background and she's from the East Coast. I wonder how she feels about Morrisey's parochialism:

Marlowe graduated from Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia. She received undergraduate degrees from Regis College and James Madison University. She received her J.D. from George Mason School of Law in 1983.

Mary Marlowe Sommer

ballotpedia.org

 

[Marantz4250b]

Why does he feel that he needs eight lawyers? I just don't get it. It's hardly as though it's a particularly complicated trial, after all. It's a pretty straightforward you don't deny you shot two people, we just need to determine if it was criminal. How does having multiple lawyers, at obviously huge expense, help him here?

 

[ch_13]

Why does he feel that he needs eight lawyers? I just don't get it. It's hardly as though it's a particularly complicated trial, after all. It's a pretty straightforward you don't deny you shot two people, we just need to determine if it was criminal. How does having multiple lawyers, at obviously huge expense, help him here?

It's not like there are going to be eight people sitting at Baldwin's defense table.

Most of the attorneys listed are associates and/or junior partners. They do the grunt work: researching precedents, writing motions, etc. but they won't necessarily be cross-examining witnesses during the trial. Eight might be a larger than usual team but it's not that unusual, especially if the associate was assigned to just write a single motion or research one specific area of the law.

I would assume the judge knows all this so I think listing all those lawyers in the motion was just a bit of public grandstanding by Morrisey.

 

[Weki]

8 lawyers and not one said “hey guys we should take this plea offer asap and avoid going to trial!” Never a good look when a celebrity with money and fame as notorious as AB kills a crew member. 8 lawyers couldn’t figure out that they should avoid a trial at all costs?? I continue to be baffled by the lack of good ole common sense out there among some of these lawyers. Still no ruling from the judge. If she dismisses the indictment, Morrissey will reconvene the GJ and redo it I’m sure. JMO

 

[Betty P]

8 lawyers and not one said “hey guys we should take this plea offer asap and avoid going to trial!” Never a good look when a celebrity with money and fame as notorious as AB kills a crew member. 8 lawyers couldn’t figure out that they should avoid a trial at all costs?? I continue to be baffled by the lack of good ole common sense out there among some of these lawyers. Still no ruling from the judge. If she dismisses the indictment, Morrissey will reconvene the GJ and redo it I’m sure. JMO

We still haven't heard the full story about the alleged plea offer, but we will.

 

[Cool Cats]

8 lawyers and not one said “hey guys we should take this plea offer asap and avoid going to trial!” Never a good look when a celebrity with money and fame as notorious as AB kills a crew member. 8 lawyers couldn’t figure out that they should avoid a trial at all costs?? I continue to be baffled by the lack of good ole common sense out there among some of these lawyers. Still no ruling from the judge. If she dismisses the indictment, Morrissey will reconvene the GJ and redo it I’m sure. JMO

This gives more information on it I hadn't heard before

Why Prosecutors in the “Rust” Shooting Case Rescinded a Lenient Plea Deal They Offered Alec Baldwin Last Year

The actor, who faces 18 months in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter, lost the chance to plead to a misdemeanor and avoid potential time behind bars

www.yahoo.com

“Counsel for the State received no response at all — not even an email from defense counsel stating that they received the offer and would discuss it with their client,” they continued.

Nevertheless, they extended the deadline for Baldwin, but then learned that one of Baldwin’s attorneys “provided all the details of the presumed confidential and privileged plea offer to a reporter with NBC News in New York,” they wrote.

“After determining that the reporter did indeed have all the details of the plea offer extended to Mr. Baldwin, undersigned counsel received additional information that Mr. Baldwin and his counsel were working with the media to generate a campaign designed to deflect attention away from any future plea hearing to protect Mr. Baldwin’s public image,” the prosecutors wrote.

Morrissey and Lewis claimed Baldwin planned to file “the frivolous lawsuit” against the State of New Mexico and the former prosecutors “on the same day as the possible future plea hearing” to “direct attention away” from it.

The special prosecutors also claimed in the court filing that Baldwin was allegedly “pressuring material witnesses in the case against him to submit to interviews” for a documentary he’s making about Hutchins.

For the prosecutors, that was the final straw. “It was at this point that the plea offer was rescinded, and the case was scheduled for grand jury,” they wrote.

 

[Marantz4250b]

8 lawyers and not one said “hey guys we should take this plea offer asap and avoid going to trial!” Never a good look when a celebrity with money and fame as notorious as AB kills a crew member. 8 lawyers couldn’t figure out that they should avoid a trial at all costs?? I continue to be baffled by the lack of good ole common sense out there among some of these lawyers. Still no ruling from the judge. If she dismisses the indictment, Morrissey will reconvene the GJ and redo it I’m sure. JMO

I'm not sure that the "lack of good 'ole common sense" can be attributed to the lawyers as far as that decision was concerned, quite frankly!

There's an ego in the mix which is easily a match for eight highly remunerated lawyers.

 

[Marantz4250b]

This gives more information on it I hadn't heard before

Why Prosecutors in the “Rust” Shooting Case Rescinded a Lenient Plea Deal They Offered Alec Baldwin Last Year

The actor, who faces 18 months in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter, lost the chance to plead to a misdemeanor and avoid potential time behind bars

www.yahoo.com

“Counsel for the State received no response at all — not even an email from defense counsel stating that they received the offer and would discuss it with their client,” they continued.

Nevertheless, they extended the deadline for Baldwin, but then learned that one of Baldwin’s attorneys “provided all the details of the presumed confidential and privileged plea offer to a reporter with NBC News in New York,” they wrote.

“After determining that the reporter did indeed have all the details of the plea offer extended to Mr. Baldwin, undersigned counsel received additional information that Mr. Baldwin and his counsel were working with the media to generate a campaign designed to deflect attention away from any future plea hearing to protect Mr. Baldwin’s public image,” the prosecutors wrote.

Morrissey and Lewis claimed Baldwin planned to file “the frivolous lawsuit” against the State of New Mexico and the former prosecutors “on the same day as the possible future plea hearing” to “direct attention away” from it.

The special prosecutors also claimed in the court filing that Baldwin was allegedly “pressuring material witnesses in the case against him to submit to interviews” for a documentary he’s making about Hutchins.

For the prosecutors, that was the final straw. “It was at this point that the plea offer was rescinded, and the case was scheduled for grand jury,” they wrote.

If the part I've bolded is true then that is about as scummy as a person can possibly get, quite frankly. MOO, obvs!

 

[Betty P]

This gives more information on it I hadn't heard before

Why Prosecutors in the “Rust” Shooting Case Rescinded a Lenient Plea Deal They Offered Alec Baldwin Last Year

The actor, who faces 18 months in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter, lost the chance to plead to a misdemeanor and avoid potential time behind bars

www.yahoo.com

“Counsel for the State received no response at all — not even an email from defense counsel stating that they received the offer and would discuss it with their client,” they continued.

Nevertheless, they extended the deadline for Baldwin, but then learned that one of Baldwin’s attorneys “provided all the details of the presumed confidential and privileged plea offer to a reporter with NBC News in New York,” they wrote.

“After determining that the reporter did indeed have all the details of the plea offer extended to Mr. Baldwin, undersigned counsel received additional information that Mr. Baldwin and his counsel were working with the media to generate a campaign designed to deflect attention away from any future plea hearing to protect Mr. Baldwin’s public image,” the prosecutors wrote.

Morrissey and Lewis claimed Baldwin planned to file “the frivolous lawsuit” against the State of New Mexico and the former prosecutors “on the same day as the possible future plea hearing” to “direct attention away” from it.

The special prosecutors also claimed in the court filing that Baldwin was allegedly “pressuring material witnesses in the case against him to submit to interviews” for a documentary he’s making about Hutchins.

For the prosecutors, that was the final straw. “It was at this point that the plea offer was rescinded, and the case was scheduled for grand jury,” they wrote.

That's Morrissey's version of the story.

I'm waiting until I hear or read the arguments and see any evidence when it's presented in court.

 

[DizzyB]

Alec Baldwin Hearing Turns Into Verbal Brawl Between ‘Rust’ Prosecutor & Defense Lawyer; Judge Sets Ruling On Dismissing Involuntary Manslaughter Charges For Next Week

With less than 2 months to go before his criminal trial, the multi-Emmy winner wont' know until next week if he is going to have to face a jury or not.

deadline.com

Judge said will rule next week.

So it’s way into next week, almost at the end. No ruling yet? Is a dismissal coming, close to the holiday weekend where it’s barely news?

 

[Slick762]

That's Morrissey's version of the story.

I'm waiting until I hear or read the arguments and see any evidence when it's presented in court.

First, let me say, AGAIN, as someone with extensive firearms knowledge and experience, that I don't think AB should be charged for anything he did as an actor holding the gun at that moment. The shooting was, IMO, that 1% unicorn circumstance where the person holding the gun wasn't the one at fault. In that moment, he was no more responsible than the poor guy who pulled the trigger on Brandon Lee. Michael Massee didn't kill him, despite his guilt, the people who gave him a loaded (sorta) gun did that. Movie and TV sets have armorers and safety protocols because actors often HAVE to break firearm handling rules.

What he did as lead actor and big dog on set, setting a culture that ignored safety rules, and as a producer and his involvement with hiring unqualified people, I think he should be charged. And I think the film and TV industry would benefit from that because it would put a crack in the culture where the big dog on set can ignore the rules or bully people into breaking them. But we don't live in a perfect world and if the charges against him for actually pulling the trigger are the only justice the Hutchins family gets, I can live with that.

If AB lawyers did respond or acknowledge the plea offer before doing a media interview, and Morrissey says they didn't, that would be super easy for AB lawyers to prove by simply showing an email or call log. And for something like this, the lawyers should be documenting every communication that have with opposing counsel.

It's bad behavior by AB lawyers, if true, that demonstrates that they have no intention of doing anything in good faith, and more than enough justification to revoke the plea offer. If it's not true, it's easy to disprove. Either way, it's going to determine who I believe going forward.

And that doesn't account for the whole documentary drama. It's scummy and more than a little suspicious that someone pending criminal charges has communications with possible witnesses over a documentary about the incident. Especially someone who has the ability to blacklist crew members. Think the key grip is going to get job offers if AB starts bad mouthing him by name at parties?

 

[Cool Cats]

That's Morrissey's version of the story.

I'm waiting until I hear or read the arguments and see any evidence when it's presented in court.

There should be a defense motion countering this one from the prosecution.....2 Cents