A Santa Fe, New Mexico jury has convicted the armorer for the movie ‘Rust’, of involuntary manslaughter, for the accidental shooting of the film’s cinematographer. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was the armorer who put a live round in to the gun that actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with on the set of the film when it went off, killing the film’s cinematographer. The trial focused upon the fact that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was supposed to load Mr. Baldwin’s revolver with “dummy” rounds that could not be fired, but she apparently introduced live ammunition on to the movie set. In finding her guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the jury basically concluded that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed willfully failed to carry out proper gun safety checks. Ms. Gutierrez-Reed now faces up 18 months in prison. Her lawyers have vowed to appeal her conviction.
What is a Pre-Trial Conference in a Legal Case?
I have often found myself telling a client, "our next step in the process is to attend the pre-trial conference". The problem is that I never really explained what a pre-trial conference is, or what happens at a pre-trial conference. In plain English, a pre-trial...
