From Portal
Posted 6 hours ago, updated 4 hours ago
Alec Baldwin has denied responsibility for the cameraman’s death, saying he thought he was holding a gun with no ammo and the shot went off by itself. KENA BETANCUR / AFP
After studying the final investigative report into the shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins while filming Western Rust last October, the Santa Fe, New Mexico, state attorney’s office is not ruling out charges against the actor.
Actor Alec Baldwin is among four people charged in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the shooting of Western Rust last October, prosecutors in the Santa Fe office in New York, Mexico said.
The final police report on the shooting near Santa Fe is expected next month, when the actor could be prosecuted if a criminal charge is warranted, prosecutor Mary Carmack-Altwies told the State Revenue Commissioner. In a letter to the council, she said investigators were focusing on “multiple people” who handled the gun used by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal, accidentally killing Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
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High profile case
“One of the possible defendants is well-known film actor Alec Baldwin,” she said in an Aug. 30 letter asking for additional funds to pursue the high-profile case. In the event of a trial, the judge should expand her team to include a full-time prosecutor, a special investigator, a media spokesman and experts in view of the “well-paid and experienced defense attorneys”.
Alec Baldwin has denied responsibility for the cameraman’s death, saying he thought he was holding a gun with no ammo and the shot went off by itself. A thesis disproved by an FBI report last August that revealed that the Colt did not malfunction and that it could not have fired without the actor pulling the trigger.
Also read Alec Baldwin’s fatal shooting: FBI’s conclusions contradict actor’s version
In a press release, the actor’s attorney, Luke Nikas, called for restraint on any possible charges against his client: “I understand that the prosecutor’s office has not yet reviewed the case and that no decision has been made. It’s too early to tell.”
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