Alec Baldwin could still face charges over shooting dead cinematographer Halyna Hutchins as prosecutor claims ‘the entire tragedy occurred because Rust Productions cut corners’
Alec Baldwin could still face charges over the Rust shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after prosecutors claimed the production company ‘cut corners’.
Criminal charges against Baldwin were dropped and the movie finished filming earlier this year, but he could face further legal trouble if it can be proven that his financial interest may have led him and his co-producers to do so.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled Tuesday that producers must provide internal documents showing Baldwin and his production company, El Dorado Pictures’ entire role in the film.
Charges could potentially be brought against Baldwin again if it is determined that he would profit if production cut back on gun safety.
They want to detail Baldwin’s role after special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued last week that the ‘entire tragedy happened because Rust Productions cut every chance they could and hired inexperienced and ill-equipped crew members.’
A New Mexico judge has ruled that those behind the film Rust – which claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins – must explain star and producer Alec Baldwin’s full role, suggesting that his financial interest may have led him to cutting corners
“Rust Productions either intervened, interfered or obstructed the criminal investigation in this case,” Morrissey added, arguing against the effort to stop her subpoena, according to Deadline.
Jason Bowles, the lawyer of the gun custodian Hannah Gutierrez-Reed – the only criminal accused in the case who will stand trial in 2024 – believes the production “must stop trying to hide the ball and must be transparent and forthcoming information.”
“It raises the questions, what are they hiding and why?”
Gutierrez-Reed argued that she was prevented from performing her job to the best of her ability by producers, who refused requests for training due to finances.
In October 2021, Baldwin was holding the prop Colt .45 revolver that, unbeknownst to him, contained live rounds, when it discharged and struck Hutchins, 42, and the film’s director Joel Souza.
After the shooting, the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office charged Baldwin, who also served as the film’s producer, with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
In April, the charges were dismissed without prejudice, though prosecutors noted that Baldwin still faces charges pending an investigation into the gun.
After Baldwin’s lawyers announced the decision, the special prosecutors said the “decision does not exonerate Mr. Baldwin of criminal guilt and charges can be filed again.’
Baldwin, 65, who has repeatedly denied pulling the trigger on the bullet that killed Hutchins
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled Tuesday that producers must provide internal documents showing Baldwin and his production company, El Dorado Pictures’ entire role in the film.
‘The gun and broken wound were sent to the state’s independent expert for further testing. The charges against Alec Baldwin were dismissed without prejudice because a possible gun malfunction affected substantial causation with respect to Baldwin, not Gutierrez,’ prosecutors wrote in June.
“If it is determined that the gun did not malfunction, charges against Mr. Baldwin will be pursued.”
The prosecutor’s new report in the case against Gutierrez-Reed said the gun “functions properly and in accordance with the operational design of original Colt 1873 single-action revolvers.”
Although the ‘full-cock step on the hammer was badly damaged, the top of the trigger sear was broken off and the bolt (cylinder stop) was also broken’ as a result of the incident on the set, there were no indications of modifications to the rifle .
In August 2022, the FBI’s forensic report reached essentially the same conclusion — that Baldwin pulled the trigger.
Prosecutors charged Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence
The cast and crew of Rust before the fatal shooting in 2021
Baldwin was initially charged, but the case was dropped after evidence suggested the weapon could have been fired without him pulling the trigger
In August this year, 26-year-old Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
Her lawyer Bowles said his client ‘looks forward to her day in court, and to having the conduct of everyone on set fully investigated.’
Gutierrez-Reed waived her right to a bench trial and preliminary hearing when she entered the plea Wednesday. Her trial is set for 2024.
Jury selection will begin the day before opening statements.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers previously said they “fully expect at the end of this process that Hannah will also be acquitted.”
The actor was spotted lingering outside the park area of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s offices after facing questions about the 2021 accidental shooting
He said in interviews that he was told the gun was safe and that he never pulled the trigger
Baldwin insisted the shooting was nothing more than an accident. He said in interviews that he was told the gun was safe and that he never pulled the trigger.
‘I didn’t pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at someone and pull the trigger on them, never,” he said in December 2021.
The movie has resumed in recent months. In April, Baldwin was spotted on set being dragged to the gallows to be hanged.
The scenes filmed did not appear to simulate an actual hanging, and it is unclear whether the Rust script called for the execution of Baldwin’s character to be carried out as part of the story.
After a scathing safety review by New Mexico regulators that detailed ignored complaints and mistakes before Hutchins’ death in October 2021, the production company agreed to pay a $100,000 fine.