Alec Baldwin facing manslaughter charges
Actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed on a New Mexico movie set, prosecutors announced on Thursday, citing a “criminal disregard for safety”.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who supervised weapons on the set of the Western, Rust.
Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on October 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
Assistant director David Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun, has signed an agreement to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, the district attorney’s office said.
Involuntary manslaughter can involve a killing that happens while a defendant is doing something that is lawful but dangerous and is acting negligently or without caution.
The charge is a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a US$5,000 fine under New Mexico law. The charges also include a provision that could result in a mandatory five years in prison because the offence was committed with a gun.
Carmack-Altwies said charges will be filed by the end of January, and that Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed will be issued a summons to appear in court. She said prosecutors will forgo a grand jury and rely on a judge to determine if there is probable cause to move toward trial.
Andrea Reeb, a special prosecutor on the case, cited a “pattern of criminal disregard for safety” on the film set.
“If any one of these three people – Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez Reed or David Halls – had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” said Reeb, also a newly sworn Republican state legislator.
Baldwin’s attorney said the charges represented “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”
The actor “had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win,” Luke Nikas said in a statement.
An attorney for Gutierrez Reed said the charges were “the result of a very flawed investigation and an inaccurate understanding of the full facts.”
“We intend to bring the full truth to light and believe Hannah will be exonerated of wrongdoing by a jury,” Jason Bowles said.