So, is that a yes or a no? Is it your contention that Massee knew the gun was loaded with real bullets and fired on Lee anyway?
Monalisa and Massee both fired guns at a human being, each believing that the human would not be harmed.
Except a reasonable person, when handed a gun on a movie set by a guy who a reasonable person would expect to know their job, would believe that the gun was a prop gun and safe to pretend to fire at another actor.
The same person, if handed a gun by their dumb-ass boyfriend, and told by their dumb-ass boyfriend that it would be perfectly safe to shoot if said dumb-ass boyfriend held a book in the way, does not have the same reasonable defense.
Anyone with a lick of sense would know firing a live round at someone is dangerous, even if they have a book as armor.
Lots of people would not expect that a gun handed to you by the prop master on a movie set and told that the gun was a prop that was safe to use would be dangerous.
The standard here is reasonability. It’s just not reasonable to expect to be able to shoot someone armored with a book to be safe. It is reasonable to expect a prop gun on a movie set to be safe.
In the Brandon Lee case if anyone had criminal culpability it would have been the guy who prepared the gun and handed it to the actor and told him it was safe.
One had (or was supposed to have) blanks and had been prepared by professionals. The other was a straight out shooting.
We dont know that Mona Lisa didn’t know that. It could be a perfect cover for a coldblooded murder. We have to wait for the facts to come out.
Monalisa believed what her boyfriend told her, as did My Massee. It turns out Ruiz was wrong, as were “the professionals”.
Precedence has shown that giving someone permission to commit a serious crime is not a bar to prosecution for that crime. For example, that German cannibal guy was convicted of murder, even though his victim gave permission to be killed & eaten.
So, if my friend tells me that I’m all right to drive after a few beers, I shouldn’t be held accountable for killing someone accidently while driving drunk? After all, my friend told me I was fine.
So, your answer is no then. So, the situations are not similar, and thus the tragic case of Brandon Lee is not relevant.
If it’s not something normally that you would do and a ‘friend’ took advantage of your impaired mental state to goad you into doing it, I do think that reduces your own culpability, yes. Does it mean you shouldn’t be held accountable at all? No.
From a rehabilitation standpoint, I don’t see this woman as being the type of person who needs to be locked up. She is probably overwhelmed with regret and negative emotion, and will be for years or decades to come. I have sympathy for her, like I sympathize with parents who accidentally leave kids in hot cars - the intensely negative emotion probably outweighs any effect that jail time could do, from a punitive standpoint.
Did she show poor judgement? yes.
Criminal conduct? Technically, yes.
Need prison time? No, I think she has learned her lesson as thoroughly as a lesson could be learned.
The prison system is overcrowded already.
Not similar? The situations seem near identical, other than the fact that Monalisa’s cognitive capacity is being questioned.
Monalisa (god, I love that name) and Massee were each assured they could safely fire a gun at someone. Both believed what they were told. Tragedy resulted in both cases.
Anyone think the Brandon Lee situation will not be mentioned at trial, assuming Monalisa is charged?
Or safer, in this instance.
She has been charged, with second-degree manslaughter.
Using our friend Google search there have been a number of cases where people have been killed by friends while testing their bulletproof vests, which led to an arrest. But I haven’t found any reports that include the outcome. Can anyone find a case where the final adjudication is reported?
They are not at all identical.
Prop guns fire blanks. They do that every day, safely, and have since movie making began. A reasonable person can assume that a blank round can’t hurt anyone. (exception: Jon-Erik Hexum. But you can’t prosecute him for his stupidity.)
Firing a loaded gun at someone and assuming their makeshift body armor will protect them is not the thinking of a reasonable person. Firstly, what if you missed? Even people with actual certified body armor can get hurt or killed taking a round in the armor. No reasonable people want to get shot.
In the Brandon Lee incident, no round was intended to be fired. The gun was supposed to be empty. In the case in question, the intent WAS to fire a bullet.
Except the part where one person knew they were firing real bullets from a real gun, and one person didn’t. Other than that, then yes they are near identical.
If a person who simply texted messages to someone gets more of a prison sentence than someone who actually fired a gun at someone and killed them, then I feel that is a god-damned travesty of justice. In my opinion.
And I can’t believe how many people are taking “He told me to do it” as some sort of mitigating excuse. 
The purpose isn’t to teach Monalisa herself a lesson, it’s to send a message to anyone else who might consider trying the same stupid stunt.
I don’t think she deserves to do hard time, but she definitely needs to be punished.
Because it doesn’t mean “he told me to kill him,” which wouldn’t be very helpful, but more like “he told me it wouldn’t cause him any harm.” That would mitigate her actions if she believed him.
Most of us, even if we know almost nothing about guns, know that you don’t point a gun at anyone you don’t intend to kill. Apparently, some people don’t know this.
But, what if he said, “Darling, mix a little of powder A and powder B into my omelette this morning please. It’s going to tasty.” And then it turns out that those powders are poisonous when combined. If she had no idea he would be hurt by that breakfast, is it her fault he died? In both cases, he’s telling her what to do, and either implicitly or explicitly conveying it won’t hurt him. In both cases, he’s wrong. Very wrong.
Hearing that the guy she loved died might be enough to send such a message. If that doesn’t stop someone, the threat of some prison time on top of it isn’t likely to either.