shoot, could disassociate himself from the details of the one piece of
the film which was actually dangerous. From all accounts Landis had requested the biggest explosions and had shouted from his director’s chair for the helicopter to come in low. Landis stuck
with his argument: when you employ experts you let them get on with the job and if the director asks you to do something dangerous, you refuse.
The enquiry got heated. When Kesselman pressed Landis, “The final authority in terms of camera, actor positions, helicopter –” Landis jumped in. “Not mine,” he
interjected. “If I asked an actor to stick his hand in a waste disposal unit the actor would say no.”
As the arguments went back and forth the media could not help but represent the Warner Bros crew as a group who were trying everything they knew to avoid taking responsibility – come what
may, the children would not be dead if Landis had gone through the official channels to gain proper authorization to have the kids work after 8.30 p.m. No one ever suggested that the deaths were
anything other than an accident rather than murder, but if you do not take precautions, break some basic rules and do not check and recheck the safety of your plan, then you are responsible for any
resultant deaths – or in this case three deaths.
On 15 June 1983, the grand jury delivered its indictments. Landis, Folsey and Allingham were each charged with two counts of manslaughter in respect of the deaths of Renee Chen and My-ca Le. The
decisions were based on the legal premise that if death occurs as a result of the commission of an “inherently dangerous” unlawful act, then that constitutes manslaughter. The hiring of
the children was most certainly unlawful and as such the grand jury had found its unlawful act.
Landis added one more manslaughter charge to his record, bringing the manslaughter count to three, as did Stewart and Wingo. They were found guilty due to the nature of their actions, which were
described as aggravated, reckless and grossly negligent, resulting in the deaths of Morrow and the two children.
In a shock move, noted by the media and commentators alike, Kesselman decided not to pursue Landis, Folsey and Allingham of the crimes they were most certainly guilty of – that of hiring
the children and then requesting they work past the curfew. His logic was simple – there was a reasonable chance that the jury might see the deaths as being purely accidental, nobody’s
fault; if they did then they might decide to hand down a guilty verdict based on the lesser charges and let the trio off the more serious charges of manslaughter. Therefore by only presenting the
jury with one option, guilty or otherwise of manslaughter, they could choose to punish them or not. There were three families now devastated because of what had happened on that film set – it
would be a brave soul who decided that those in charge should not pay.
Amazingly the film itself was released in June 1983 to the most terrible reviews. One reviewer described it as not worth watching let alone dying for. Neither of the children were shown in the
film and the audience numbers were so low that the movie was soon replaced at the box office. After so much pain and suffering it was soon forgotten by the public, whose only real interest in it
was the trials which were looming up.
At the preliminary hearings the legal teams came out ready to fight; already there was a clear division between the directors and producers and those who were employed to carry out specific
jobs. Landis was still standing by his basic defence that those experts he employed should have acted responsibly in carrying out their jobs. As he wasn’t an expert it was impossible for him
to pass an informed comment on things like the explosives and the helicopter flying.
Judge Brian Crahan presided over the preliminary hearing before the Los Angeles Municipal Court. He faced the outgoing, rather
the film which was actually dangerous. From all accounts Landis had requested the biggest explosions and had shouted from his director’s chair for the helicopter to come in low. Landis stuck
with his argument: when you employ experts you let them get on with the job and if the director asks you to do something dangerous, you refuse.
The enquiry got heated. When Kesselman pressed Landis, “The final authority in terms of camera, actor positions, helicopter –” Landis jumped in. “Not mine,” he
interjected. “If I asked an actor to stick his hand in a waste disposal unit the actor would say no.”
As the arguments went back and forth the media could not help but represent the Warner Bros crew as a group who were trying everything they knew to avoid taking responsibility – come what
may, the children would not be dead if Landis had gone through the official channels to gain proper authorization to have the kids work after 8.30 p.m. No one ever suggested that the deaths were
anything other than an accident rather than murder, but if you do not take precautions, break some basic rules and do not check and recheck the safety of your plan, then you are responsible for any
resultant deaths – or in this case three deaths.
On 15 June 1983, the grand jury delivered its indictments. Landis, Folsey and Allingham were each charged with two counts of manslaughter in respect of the deaths of Renee Chen and My-ca Le. The
decisions were based on the legal premise that if death occurs as a result of the commission of an “inherently dangerous” unlawful act, then that constitutes manslaughter. The hiring of
the children was most certainly unlawful and as such the grand jury had found its unlawful act.
Landis added one more manslaughter charge to his record, bringing the manslaughter count to three, as did Stewart and Wingo. They were found guilty due to the nature of their actions, which were
described as aggravated, reckless and grossly negligent, resulting in the deaths of Morrow and the two children.
In a shock move, noted by the media and commentators alike, Kesselman decided not to pursue Landis, Folsey and Allingham of the crimes they were most certainly guilty of – that of hiring
the children and then requesting they work past the curfew. His logic was simple – there was a reasonable chance that the jury might see the deaths as being purely accidental, nobody’s
fault; if they did then they might decide to hand down a guilty verdict based on the lesser charges and let the trio off the more serious charges of manslaughter. Therefore by only presenting the
jury with one option, guilty or otherwise of manslaughter, they could choose to punish them or not. There were three families now devastated because of what had happened on that film set – it
would be a brave soul who decided that those in charge should not pay.
Amazingly the film itself was released in June 1983 to the most terrible reviews. One reviewer described it as not worth watching let alone dying for. Neither of the children were shown in the
film and the audience numbers were so low that the movie was soon replaced at the box office. After so much pain and suffering it was soon forgotten by the public, whose only real interest in it
was the trials which were looming up.
At the preliminary hearings the legal teams came out ready to fight; already there was a clear division between the directors and producers and those who were employed to carry out specific
jobs. Landis was still standing by his basic defence that those experts he employed should have acted responsibly in carrying out their jobs. As he wasn’t an expert it was impossible for him
to pass an informed comment on things like the explosives and the helicopter flying.
Judge Brian Crahan presided over the preliminary hearing before the Los Angeles Municipal Court. He faced the outgoing, rather
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