Grand jury indicts Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting of cinematographer on movie set in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. — A grand jury on Friday indicted Alec Baldwin on charges of involuntary manslaughter in a fatal 2021 shooting during a rehearsal on a film set in New Mexico, reviving a dormant case against the A-list actor.
Special prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury in Santa Fe this week, months after receiving a new analysis of the weapon used.
Baldwin’s legal team did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the indictment, and special prosecutors declined to answer questions after about a day and a half of presenting their case to the grand jury.
Although the proceedings are shrouded in secrecy, two of the witnesses seen at the courthouse included crew members: one who was present when the fatal shot was fired and another who had walked off the set the day before due to safety concerns.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the Western film “Rust,” was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal for a film set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and director was injured. Joel Souza.
Baldwin has said he retrieved the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired.
Judges recently agreed to stay several civil lawsuits seeking damages from Baldwin and producers of “Rust” after prosecutors said they would file charges with a grand jury. Plaintiffs in these lawsuits include members of the film crew.
Special prosecutors dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April after being told the gun may have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. They later turned around and began weighing whether to re-file charges against Baldwin after receiving a new analysis of the weapon.
The analysis from ballistics and forensic testing experts relied on replacement parts to reassemble the gun Baldwin fired after parts of the gun broke during FBI testing. The report examined the gun and the marks it left on a spent cartridge to conclude that the trigger must have been pulled or pressed.
The analysis led by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona stated that although Baldwin repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, “given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger must have been pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer.” let go. of the evidence revolver.”
The weapons supervisor on the film set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has pleaded not guilty in the case to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. Her trial starts in February.
“Rust” assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to unsafe handling of a firearm last March and was given a six-month suspended sentence. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation into the shooting.
An earlier FBI report on the agency’s analysis of the weapon found that, as is common with firearms of that design, it could discharge without pulling the trigger if force was applied to an uncocked hammer, such as by to drop weapon.
The only way the testers could get it to fire was to hit the gun with a hammer while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or to pull the trigger while it was fully cocked. The gun eventually broke during testing.
The 2021 shooting resulted in a series of civil lawsuits, including wrongful death claims, filed by members of Hutchins’ family, centering on allegations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed these allegations.
The company Rust Movie Productions has paid a $100,000 fine to state workplace safety regulators following a damning story of errors that violated standard industry protocols, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to correct two on-set failures before the fatal shooting.
Filming on “Rust” resumed last year in Montana, under a deal with the cinematographer’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, that made him executive producer.