MSNBC: the reason the charges against Alec Baldwin were dropped, [View all]

[pnwmom]

Last edited Fri Apr 21, 2023, 12:40 AM - Edit history (3)

according to a speaker who's name I missed. The Special prosecutor had learned that the gun had been modified so it could go off without anyone pulling the trigger.

That meant reasonable doubt if it went to a jury.

(I also read somewhere that the gun fell apart during testing, which also indicated a problem with the gun.)

ON UPDATE: The charges could possibly be refiled, depending on the results of the ongoing investigation.

I found this piece in the LA Times.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-20/rust-prosecutors-drop-charges-against-alec-baldwin

The development came after prosecutors received new information in the case — that Baldwin’s prop gun had been modified before being delivered to the low-budget western in October 2021, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment.

The replica of the vintage weapon — a Colt .45 revolver — had been modified , increasing the odds that the gun might have misfired, as Baldwin has said, according to the sources.

SNIP

“We cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form,” they said. “We therefore will be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin to conduct further investigation. This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled.”

SNIP

Results of a ballistics investigation of the gun by the FBI, released last summer, indicated the gun was functional when Baldwin was handling it. But Baldwin’s attorneys have consistently insisted that finding was flawed, noting that the gun fell apart during the FBI testing.