Alec Baldwin charged in film set shooting
Previous charge in ‘Rust’ case dismissed last year
Alec Baldwin has again been indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film “Rust.”
The grand jury’s indictment, filed Friday in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, alleges that Baldwin “did cause the death of Halyna Hutchins.” It comes nine months after special prosecutors dismissed an earlier involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor.
New Mexico special prosecutors brought the case before the grand jury this week after receiving a new analysis of the gun from the shooting. They declined to answer questions.
“Our clients have always sought the truth about what happened,” attorney Gloria Allred said in a statement Friday. She represents Hutchins’ parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, and her sister, Svetlana Zemko. “We are looking forward to the criminal trial which will determine if he should be convicted for the untimely death of Halyna.”
Defense attorneys for Baldwin indicated they will fight the charges.
“We look forward to our day in court,” Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, defense attorneys for Baldwin, told The Associated Press in an email.
Previous charge dropped
Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal for the Western film in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin, also a producer on the film, claimed the gun went off accidentally and that he did not pull the trigger.
In April, prosecutors filed a formal notice ahead of a May 3 preliminary hearing dismissing the criminal case against Baldwin without prejudice. They noted that “new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis.” An investigation into the case remains “active and ongoing,” prosecutors added.
Experts in ballistics and forensic testing relied on replacement parts to reassemble the gun fired by Baldwin after parts of the pistol were broken during testing by the FBI. The report examined the gun and markings it left on a spent cartridge to conclude that the trigger had to have been pulled or depressed.
The analysis led by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona stated that although Baldwin repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, “given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.”
The shooting resulted in a series of criminal and civil lawsuits, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins’ family accusing defendants of being lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
The weapons supervisor on the movie set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering. Her trial is scheduled to begin in February.
Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to unsafe handling of a firearm last March and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation.
In 2022, Baldwin and the production company behind “Rust” reached a settlement with Hutchins’ family in their wrongful death lawsuit.
Contributing: Edward Segarra and Marco della Cava, USA TODAY; The Associated Press