Alec Baldwin scheduled for court on charges in set death

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin’s first court appearance has been set as he confronts accusations of firearm safety failures and involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico film set.

A New Mexico court on Wednesday scheduled Baldwin and film-set weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to appear by videoconference before Santa Febased District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in late February, leaving several weeks before the defendants may provide a formal response to felony charges. They were both charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”

Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.

A manslaughter charge can be brought if a defendant killed while doing something lawful but dangerous and was acting negligently or without caution.

In newly filed court documents, prosecutors said reckless safety failures accompanied the film production from the outset. They cite Baldwin’s failure as an actor to appear for mandatory firearms training prior to filming and his decision as a producer to work with Gutierrez-Reed, who was an uncertified and inexperienced armorer.

A probable cause statement from investigators traces safety failures across a 10-day period, such as misfires on set, a camera crew walkout and the moments before Hutchins’ death as a revolver was loaded with ammunition and Baldwin’s finger came to rest on the pistol’s trigger.

“Baldwin’s deviation from known standards, practices and protocol directly caused” Hutchins’ death, Robert Shilling, a special investigator for the Santa Fe district attorney’s office, said in the probable cause statement.

Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas declined to comment Tuesday and referred to a previous statement in which he called the charges a “terrible miscarriage of justice” that he and his client would fight and win.

“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” the statement said. “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked.”

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney said they would release a statement later.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told The Associated Press in a Jan. 19 interview that the set was “really being run pretty fast and loose” and Baldwin should have known there were previous misfires on the set and people had brought up safety concerns. She also highlighted Baldwin as the person “that held the gun, that pointed the gun and that pulled the trigger.”

Prosecutors will forgo a grand jury and rely on a judge to determine if there is sufficient evidence to move toward trial. That decision could take up to 60 days and involve trail-like hearings to consider witness testimony and evidence.

Prosecutors have submitted a list of dozens of witnesses including the wounded “Rust” director Souza, weapons assistant Sarah Zachry, the film’s ammunition provider, several participants in the filmset rehearsal where Hutchins was shot — as well as FBI analysts, law enforcement detectives and sheriff’s deputies who initially responded to the shooting.

The manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed include two alternative standards and sanctions.

One version would require proof of negligence, which is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine under New Mexico law.

The second alternative is reckless disregard of safety “without due caution and circumspection.” It carries a higher threshold of wrongdoing and includes a “firearm enhancement” that could result in a mandatory five years in prison because the offense was committed with a gun.

A jury may decide which definition of manslaughter to pursue, prosecutors said.