Baldwin charged for ‘reckless acts’ leading to ‘Rust’ death

Actor should have used fake gun on set, says prosecutor

Actor Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday for showing a “reckless” disregard for safety that led to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie Rust in New Mexico in 2021.

District attorney Mary Carmack-altwies filed charges following months of speculation as to whether she had evidence that Baldwin acted with criminal negligence when a revolver with which he was rehearsing fired a live round that killed Hutchins.

Baldwin and set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-reed were each charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The most serious charge, which carries a potential sentence of five years in jail, would require prosecutors to convince a jury that Baldwin acted with willful disregard for the safety of others.

A lawyer for Baldwin declined to comment. Gutierrez-reed’s lawyer said the prosecutor had “completely misunderstood the facts and has reached the wrong conclusions”.

Baldwin’s case is remarkable in that there is little or no precedent for a Hollywood actor to face criminal charges for an onset shooting.

A statement of probable cause by the prosecution’s special investigator, Robert Shilling, made clear Baldwin was being charged as an actor and producer on the low-budget movie.

Baldwin’s failure to get sufficient firearms training, check with the armorer whether the revolver was loaded, or address safety complaints from crew were cited by Shilling as some of his many “extremely reckless acts or reckless failures to act” in the 10-day period leading up to Hutchins’ death.

The 30 Rock actor has denied responsibility for the shooting inside a movie-set church, saying Hutchins directed him to point the gun at the camera, he cocked the revolver but never pulled the trigger.

Baldwin said live ammunition should never have been allowed on the set and it was the job of Gutierrez-reed and first assistant director Dave Halls to ensure the gun was unloaded, a position supported by many actors and the SAGAFTRA union.

Charging documents held Gutierrez-reed responsible for “allowing live ammunition on the set”, but did not accuse her of physically introducing them onto the production.

Gutierrez-reed has said she brought two boxes of dummy rounds onto the set from a previous movie. Supply company PDQ Arms and Prop also provided dummy rounds and blanks. An FBI test found live long Colt .45 rounds taken from PDQ in Albuquerque did not match those found at the movie set, including the round that killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

Gutierrez-reed has said she checked that the rounds were dummies before handing the gun to Halls and leaving the church due to Covid protocols. Halls then handed it to Baldwin, telling him it was a “cold gun,” meaning it did not contain an explosive charge, according to police.

Halls, her senior in the production, has signed a plea deal for a misdemeanor charge and is expected to co-operate with the prosecution.

“We will fight these charges and expect that a jury will find Hannah not guilty,” Gutierrezreed’s lawyer Jason Bowles said.