A grand jury has charged Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter on Friday, relating to the fatal 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after he discharged a prop firearm on the New Mexico set of Rust.
The film’s director Joel Souza was also struck and injured by the same projectile from the discharge. Baldwin maintains that he pulled back the hammer, not the trigger, causing the gun to discharge.
Special prosecutors presented the case to a Santa Fe grand jury this week, backed by a recent analysis of the involved gun. After spending approximately a day and a half with the grand jury, the prosecutors chose not to respond to questions.
Baldwin’s defense attorneys have signaled their intent to contest the involuntary manslaughter charge.
Amid a veil of secrecy surrounding the proceedings, two courthouse witnesses, both crew members—one present during the fatal shot and another who left the set a day earlier citing safety concerns—have been identified.
This new charge adds legal complications for Baldwin, potentially leading to prison time. The actor, with a career spanning nearly 40 years, has played prominent roles in major productions such as The Hunt for Red October, Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, and the sitcom 30 Rock, just to name a few.
The indictment offers prosecutors two options for pursuing involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin in Halyna Hutchins‘ death. One option centers on the negligent use of a firearm, while the other alleges felony misconduct, citing “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.”
In response to the grand jury presentation by prosecutors, judges have temporarily suspended various civil lawsuits seeking compensation from Baldwin and Rust producers. Among the plaintiffs in these suits are members of the film crew.
Gloria Allred, the Los Angeles-based attorney representing the parents and younger sister of the slain cinematographer in a civil case, stated on Friday that her clients are actively seeking the truth regarding the events leading to Halyna Hutchins’ death. They anticipate Baldwin’s trial for further clarity.
Former federal prosecutor and president of the West Coast Trial Lawyers firm in Los Angeles, Neama Rahmani highlighted past prosecutorial missteps. He emphasized that presenting ballistics evidence alone may not be sufficient for prosecutors to establish Baldwin’s broader responsibility and legal duty in handling the gun on the movie set.
In April, special prosecutors dismissed the original involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin, citing information that suggested the gun might have been modified before the shooting, leading to a malfunction. Subsequently, they reevaluated their decision and considered refiling charges after obtaining a new analysis of the firearm.
The analysis, conducted by experts in ballistics and forensic testing, involved using replacement parts to reconstruct the gun fired by Baldwin. During FBI testing, parts of the pistol had broken. The report, examining the gun and markings on a spent cartridge, concluded that the trigger had to be pulled or depressed.
Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona led the analysis, asserting that despite Baldwin’s denials of pulling the trigger, the tests, findings, and observations indicated that the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the weapons supervisor on the movie set, has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in connection to the case. Her trial is scheduled to run from February. 21 through March 6 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
David Halls, the assistant director and safety coordinator for Rust, took a different legal route by pleading no contest to unsafe firearm handling in March of the previous year. He received a suspended sentence of six months of probation and committed to cooperating in the investigation of the shooting. In addition to the suspended sentence and probation, Halls is obligated to pay a $500 fine and is also required to complete a gun-safety course and fulfill 24 hours of community service.
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A prior FBI report, analyzing the gun, revealed that, consistent with firearms of that design, it could discharge without the trigger being pulled if force was applied to an uncocked hammer, such as through dropping the weapon.
During testing, the only methods the evaluators found to make the gun fire were by striking it with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger when it was fully cocked. Eventually, the gun broke during these tests.
The 2021 shooting prompted a slew of civil lawsuits, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins’ family. These lawsuits focus on allegations that the defendants, including Baldwin, were negligent in adhering to safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have contested these accusations.
In response to a damning account of failures in violation of standard industry protocols, Rust Movie Productions has paid a $100,000 fine to state workplace safety regulators. Testimony revealed that production managers had taken limited or no action to address two misfires on set before the fatal shooting. Baldwin’s stunt double accidentally fired two live rounds after being told that the gun was “cold” (the term for a weapon that doesn’t have any ammunition, including blanks) just days before the fatal shooting, according to two crew members who witnessed the incident.
The filming of Rust resumed in April of last year in Montana, under an agreement with the cinematographer’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, who has taken over as executive producer of the film.
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