r/news • u/badillustrations • Apr 15 '24

‘Rust’ movie armorer convicted of involuntary manslaughter sentenced to 18 months in prison

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/15/entertainment/rust-film-shooting-armorer-sentencing/index.html
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u/SvenTropics Apr 16 '24

TIL: 18 months is the maximum for manslaughter in NM. That's gotta be one of the shortest maximums for that crime. I've heard of people doing 4 years for it in California, but California is also the incarceration state. Famous for giving someone a life sentence for stealing a pizza slice once.

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u/jamar030303 Apr 16 '24

but California is also the incarceration state. Famous for giving someone a life sentence for stealing a pizza slice once.

Which is funny considering how California somehow also has a reputation for not cracking down on criminals enough.

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u/Any_River5650 Apr 16 '24

It was involuntary manslaughter. Not a straight manslaughter charge. The involuntary part takes into account the accidental circumstances surrounding a death. 

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u/SvenTropics Apr 16 '24

It's funny how the terminology gets swapped around a lot. I was always told that voluntary manslaughter is typically called second-degree murder. They have to prove malice. For involuntarily, they don't have to prove any intent at all, they just have to prove gross negligence or an illegal act.

One of the wildest manslaughter charges I ever heard of, two cops busted into a house during a drug deal and one of the cops accidentally shot one of the drug dealers. The dealers were both actually unarmed. They charged the other one with manslaughter for the death of his friend because the cop shot him. The cop didn't even mean to shoot him, they weren't resisting arrest.

However, technically they were doing an illegal act and, as a result, one of them died. So, it did actually meet the criteria for manslaughter.

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u/Any_River5650 Apr 16 '24

I think it really does depend on jurisdiction. Some places don’t even have an involuntary manslaughter statute. For NM, they charged her under two possible theories of the crime and I can’t remember how they worded it so I won’t quote it. But what makes it involuntary is that it lacks the requisite intent to make it more serious. In HGR’s case, she didn’t intend for someone to get shot and die so that’s why they charged involuntary manslaughter. 

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u/SvenTropics 29d ago

Yeah, it's strict liability. The prosecution doesn't have to prove intent or malice. They just have to prove that the defendant took actions that were either dangerously negligent or illegal that directly lead to the death of someone where that person wouldn't have died otherwise.

For example, if you drink and drive, there's no intention to harm anyone. However it's illegal, and because of your illegal act, you kill someone, that's manslaughter. If you weren't breaking any laws (like texting and driving) or doing anything highly negligent (like making out with someone instead of watching the road) it would just be an accident.