Alec Baldwin Indicted on New Involuntary Manslaughter Charge
Alec Baldwin is being indicted again over the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. After the actor was cleared of the same charges last year, a grand jury has now been presented with a new investigation into the incident.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin, 65, is expected to be charged by New Mexico prosecutors, who initially dropped the criminal case, to review new evidence suggesting that the gun he was holding had been modified. The five-month investigation with a forensic expert clashed against Baldwin’s claims that he on the firearm when it was discharged. Baldwin faces a sentence of 18 months in prison if convicted. His attorneys issued a statement following the indictment: “We look forward to our day in court.”
As we previously reported, the fatal shooting of Hutchins occurred on October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico. Baldwin was rehearsing with a pistol for a scene set inside a church when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. An old-fashioned revolver being handled by Baldwin went off when he was practicing drawing the prop firearm. Prior to that, assistant director David Halls handed Baldwin the weapon and said that it did not contain live ammunition. However, it discharged in the direction of Hutchins, who was killed, and Souza, who was injured. Five live rounds mixed in with dummy rounds were found on set following the shooting. It remains unknown how the live rounds ended up on the set.
A Real Messy Case
The refiling of charges in the indictment includes downgrading charges against Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed after they cited a firearm law that was not in effect at the time of the shooting.
The court document also includes special prosecutor Andrea Reeb, who was part of the team that initially charged Baldwin, being forced to step down due to a conflict of interest with her elected position in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Leaked emails from Reeb indicate that she sought to leverage the case for political gain. Santa Fe County district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who appointed Reeb, subsequently excused herself from all matters related to the prosecution.
When Baldwin was initially charged last year, prosecutors alleged Baldwin should have assumed the gun he was handling was loaded with live rounds and known that âthe first rule of gun safety is never to point a gun at someone you donât intend on shooting,â according to the statement of probable cause. He also neglected to undergo ârequired firearms training prior to the commencement of filming,â even âafter [Gutierrez-Reed] requested more training.â
The actor was also alleged to have fostered an unsafe set by hiring Gutierrez-Reed as lead armorer and neglected to address multiple safety violations before the shooting, including prior misfires. A New Mexico safety agency later found numerous âseriousâ violations of safety protocols and fined the production $100,000.