SANTA FE, N.M. — Prosecutors are preparing to present evidence to a grand jury against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cameraman on the set of a Western film in New Mexico.
A grand jury did not hear the case Thursday and a decision on whether to resume criminal charges against Baldwin could take weeks. It is a secret trial without public access because prosecutors present evidence and witnesses may testify without cross-examination or immediate review by counsel.
Baldwin, star and co-producer of “Rust,” pointed 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 wounding director Joel Souza . Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired.
Special prosecutors initially dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April, saying they were told the weapon may have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. They later reversed course after receiving a new analysis of the weapon and will ask a grand jury to consider charging Baldwin again.
Here are some of the recent developments.
Special prosecutors are not only gathering evidence against Baldwin for the grand jury to consider, but are also actively preparing for a scheduled February 2024 trial for movie gunmaker Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in jail. case.
Those pretrial preparations include recent subpoenas for documents from producers of “Rust” and all audio and video recordings in the possession of a production studio in Malibu, California, which may include Baldwin on the set of “Rust” or his comments about the movie elsewhere.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor in Southern California and currently president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, says documents or files discovered in the case against Gutierrez-Reed could be reused.
“These could absolutely be used against Baldwin,” he said.
Several previously unreleased video clips of Baldwin on the set of “Rust,” prior to the fatal shooting, appeared on NBC News on Wednesday, without indicating who provided the footage. They show Baldwin firing a prop gun outside in the desert and expressing safety concerns.
‘Do you want to be on the other side of the camera? I don’t want to shoot you,” he says in one clip.
Rahmani says he hasn’t seen anything that would change prosecutors’ core arguments against Baldwin.
‘I don’t understand how this is new evidence. It is not,” Rahmani said. “Their theory in this case will be that Baldwin pulled the trigger even though he said he didn’t. ….You should never even point a gun at another human being and pull the trigger, even if you think there are blanks in it. That’s their theory on the matter. This video doesn’t change that.”
Ballistics and forensic testing experts in Arizona and New Mexico relied on replacement parts to reassemble the gun Baldwin fired — after parts of the gun broke during earlier testing by the FBI. Their 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.”
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.
A grand jury could weigh whether there is “probable cause” to file charges against Baldwin as a target of the investigation. In order to indict him, at least eight of the 12 jurors must support probable cause. A case cannot be brought before a grand jury twice on the same evidence, so if they don’t move forward this time, a second grand jury is less likely.
New Mexico-based prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis say additional facts have come to light that they say show Baldwin is criminally liable for Hutchins’ death.
Baldwin’s attorneys say a terrible tragedy has turned into this misguided attempt at prosecution and that they will answer all charges in court.
In March, David Halls, Rust’s deputy director and safety coordinator, pleaded no contest to unsafe handling of a firearm and was given a six-month suspended sentence. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation into the shooting.