Alec Baldwin photographed outside his home in New York on Tuesday DAVID DEE DELGADO (Portal)
Alec Baldwin has been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter. As scheduled, the Santa Fe, New Mexico Attorney’s Office this Tuesday filed formal charges in the death of photographer Halyna Hutchins while filming Western Rust, which took place in October 2021. Prosecutor Mary Carmack-Altwies has ordered the filed charges against the film’s producer and protagonist, whom he accuses of failing to follow safety procedures when using the firearm that accidentally fired a bullet that killed the filmmaker and the tape’s director injured. The production’s head of armory, Hanna Gutierrez-Reed, is also facing charges that could see her jailed for a year and a half.
Prosecutors had already announced in mid-January that they were finalizing the details of his case and would present it to the courts at the end of this month. In a conference, Carmack-Altwies and Special Prosecutor Andrea Reeb highlighted the “reckless” and “dangerous” use made by some members of the production team of the firearm, a Colt .45, that Baldwin used while rehearsing a scene from the independent tape Alone the presence of a real bullet is a flagrant violation of film industry safety protocols. At least five were found during filming.
“On the day of the incident alone, evidence shows that at least a dozen acts, omissions or omissions took place in the short time between lunch and the time of the shooting. And that doesn’t include Baldwin’s reckless use of the gun,” prosecutors said in introducing the lawsuit against the protagonist of 30 Rock.
The document, based on a more than 500-page police report, says Baldwin received “very limited” firearms training. The accident happened while the actor was rehearsing a move where he drew his pistol and pointed it at the camera. Of the hour it took Baldwin to familiarize himself with the revolver, the defendant devoted only half an hour today. “Baldwin was distracted and on the phone with his family during practice,” says the prosecutor, based on affidavits from members of the production including Gutierrez-Reed.
“The evidence shows that Baldwin requested and received on-set training,” the prosecutor’s indictment said elsewhere. The attorneys argue that this type of training does not meet industry standards that require this preparation to be done in advance and in a location conditioned for the use of weapons. “This reckless deviation from known standards, practices and protocols directly caused the shooting,” they add.
“If those people had done their jobs, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” Reeb said in mid-September. Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed could face prison terms and a fine if found guilty. David Halls, the assistant director, the last person on the production to check a firearm on set before giving it to the talent, has already pleaded guilty. This avoids a court case. He has also announced that he will work with the authorities and the prosecutor’s office.
Baldwin’s defense attorney, Luke Nikas, dismissed the charges. “My client had no reason to believe there was a real bullet in the gun or on the set. He trusted the professionals he worked with, who assured him there was no ammunition in the gun,” the attorney said in a statement released a few days ago. Gutierrez-Reed’s legal representative believes the authorities’ investigation is flawed and has said he will use the trial to “uncover the truth” about what happened that day.
Alec Baldwin said in his first interview after the incident that he never pulled the trigger and only drew the hammer on the gun. However, an FBI investigation confirmed the opposite, finding that the revolver went off: this caused the detonation.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed in the nearly 15 months since the incident. The Hutchins family sued Baldwin for involuntary manslaughter, but the actor settled with widower Matthew Hutchins that he drop the lawsuit. In return, Baldwin has named Hutchins executive producer on Rust, with whom he will receive an undisclosed share of profits once filming on the Western CVs wraps. There’s no date for that yet, but it’s estimated that the process will make filming resuming even more difficult.
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