Baldwin Sued For Wrongful Death - As Predicted

WASHINGTON - Feb. 15, 2022 - PRLog -- Baldwin Sued For Wrongful Death - As Predicted
Simply Pointing Gun is Clear Negligence By Itself

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 15, 2022) - Actor Alec Baldwin, who killed one person and seriously injured another when a gun he was holding on the set of the movie "Rust" went off, has finally been named as a defendant in a civil wrongful death action for killing Halyna Hutchins, as predicted months ago by two skilled litigators and law professors.

Baldwin is so clearly negligent - simply for pointing a gun at people even if he had been told it was a "cold gun" incapable of shooting and he believed it, and also for many other reasons - that he likely would be found legal liable in the civil suits filed against him.  says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who teaches the law of civil liability, and has been successful in high profile civil cases.

Baldwin's actions likely make him civilly liable for the tort of negligence in a wrongful death action because he did not act as a reasonably prudent person, and take reasonable steps to reduce the clearly foreseeable risks inherent in handling any gun - even one he may have reasonably believed to be "cold," incapable of firing, unloaded, etc. - because a fundamental rule regarding any gun is to never point it at another unless you intend to shoot him, says Banzhaf.

Even very young children are taught never to point any gun at another; a basic and common sense rule emphasized over and over again on movie sets, and thus one which would establish the standard of care any person - much less for an experienced movie actor and producer - would know, argues Banzhaf, who has been called the "Law Professor Who Masterminded Litigation Against the Tobacco Industry,"  a "King of Class-Action Lawsuits," and "a Driving Force Behind the Lawsuits That Have Cost Tobacco Companies Millions of Dollars."

Several Hollywood gun safety experts agree that no actor should ever point a gun at another human, even if he believed it to be safe.  For example, Hollywood firearms consultant Bryan Carpenter put it this way: "Loaded or unloaded, a weapon never gets pointed at another human being."

Banzhaf emphasizes that Baldwin would be found civilly liable for causing the death of Hutchins even if there were others who were even more negligent - e.g., the armorer, the assistant director, etc.  - since accidents can be caused by the negligence of several different people; in which case any person whose negligence contributed to the accident can be held liable for all of the resulting damages.

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