Didn't Have The Ability

 Comedian Ron White has a great set where he describes being thrown out of a bar.  The police were called, and Ron says: "At that point I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability."

We saw much the same thing n display last week, when actor Alec Baldwin gave an interview on ABC news about the death on the set of the movie RUST.  A noted cinematographer is dead, another wounded, and Baldwin had the gun in his hand.  Baldwin states in the interview that he is not facing criminal charges, but for the life of me I cannot understand why Baldwin's lawyers let him sit down in front of camera and discuss this tragedy.

From the perspective of a criminal investigator, that interview is a gold mine.  Were I the lead investigator on that case, I would already have a subpoena being drafted for the full, unedited video of that interview.  With what Baldwin admitted in the published, edited interview, I can't imagine what riches exist in the unedited raw files. Watching it would be a criminal investigators wet dream.

All that aside, what Baldwin describes in the interview is what we in Cowboy Fast Draw call a "slip-cock"  This condition occurs when the hammer is not fully cocked and is release inadvertently by the shooter's thumb before reaching the full-cock notch in the hammer.  The gun WILL NOT discharge in a slip-cock unless the finger has depressed the trigger.  If the finger is outside the trigger guard, the hammer falls into the half-cock notch.

There are a set of mechanical conditions that might have combined to allow the gun to discharge as described by Baldwin, but those are so unlikely as to stretch credulity to the breaking point.  And, that set of conditions is so easy to check and routinely used that any rationally competent shooter should identify it when checking the gun.  If the revolver won't hold half-cock, it is unsafe to use and should be repaired.

The death of Ms. Hutchins was a cascade of unsafe conditions that would have been avoided.  While Mr. Baldwin may escape criminal liability, he cannot escape the fact that he killed her.  His handling of firears was unsafe and he is responsible for the discharge.  No amount of distraction will change that.

Mr. Baldwin has the right to remain silent.  He should stand on that right.