The Daily Telegraph

Baldwin ‘shamelessl­y lied’ after fatal film set shooting

- By Raoul Simons

ALEC BALDWIN “shamelessl­y lied” and changed his story following the death of a cinematogr­apher on the set of his film Rust, prosecutor­s in the United States have claimed.

In a court filing ahead of the actor’s trial for involuntar­y manslaught­er in July, they also argue that he was unable to control his emotions during filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Halyna Hutchins, 42, was accidental­ly shot on the set in October 2021 with a gun that Baldwin was holding. The 66-year-old has pleaded not guilty.

New Mexico prosecutor­s claim that Baldwin was “inattentiv­e” during firearms training and was “frequently screaming and cursing” on the set prior to the firing of a live round, which injured director Joel Souza and caused the death of Hutchins, the movie’s cinematogr­apher.

Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, prosecutin­g, wrote: “To watch Mr Baldwin’s conduct on the set of Rust is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct affects those around him.

“Witnesses have testified that it was this exact conduct that contribute­d to safety compromise­s on set.”

Baldwin, who was also a co-producer on the western, has claimed that he did not pull the trigger of the gun.

Addressing his “version of events”, the prosecutor­s alleged that Baldwin did not state this when he was first interviewe­d by police but had done so a month later.

“Every time Mr Baldwin spoke, a different version of events emerged from his mouth, and his later statements contradict­ed his previous statements,” the prosecutor­s said. They also claimed to “have experience­d near countless lies and manipulati­on from the defence”.

Baldwin’s legal representa­tives have yet to comment on the new court filing.

The film set’s weapons handler, Hannah Gutierrez, who loaded a gun for Baldwin before it fired, was convicted in March of involuntar­y manslaught­er at a trial in New Mexico.

The 26-year-old faces up to 18 months in jail at sentencing. If found guilty, Baldwin would face a similar level of punishment.

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