Alec Baldwin To Be Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter Over Rust Shooting
Category: Entertainment News
Actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter over the
shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed on a film set when
he fired a prop gun.
Mr Baldwin had been rehearsing a scene for
the Western film Rust when the shooting happened at a ranch near Sante Fe, New
Mexico in October 2021.
READ: Alec Baldwin Spotted With His Family Following Tragic Rust Shooting
Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s armourer, will also be charged.
Lawyers for both said they intended to fight the charges in court.
Santa Fe’s District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced the
charges on Thursday, adding that they would be filed by the end of the month.
“Actor and producer Alec Baldwin and armourer Hannah Gutierrez
Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter,” the
statement read. “I have determined that there is sufficient evidence.”
“On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves
justice,” she said.
Both face up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000
(£4,040) fine if convicted. They will be tried by a jury, prosecutors
said.
READ: French Hunter Convicted For Killing Man He Mistook For Boar
Film director Joel Souza was also wounded in the shooting, but
prosecutors said no charges would be filed in connection with that.
The
film’s assistant director David Halls entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanour
charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, prosecutors said. He will spend
six months serving probation.
In a statement, a lawyer for Ms
Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, said he supported the filing of the charges. “It
is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law,” he
said.
But Mr Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, called the decision “a
terrible miscarriage of justice”.
“Mr Baldwin had no reason to
believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” Mr
Nikas said. “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured
him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will
win.”
Ms Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer, meanwhile, said the announcement
was the result of a “very flawed investigation and an inaccurate understanding
of the full facts”.
“Hannah is, and has always been, very
emotional and sad about this tragic accident,” Todd Bullion said. “But she did
not commit involuntary manslaughter.”
Ms Hutchins died in hospital
shortly after she was shot in the chest by a prop gun fired by Mr Baldwin on
set. The incident resulted in accusations of negligence and led to calls for
better safety protocols on film sets.
An initial investigation
into the incident found there was “a degree of neglect”, producers were fined
more than $136,000 by the New Mexico Environment Department for failing to
enforce safety protocols.
The film’s production company, Rust
Movie Productions, argued that it was not responsible for supervising the film
set, “much less for supervising specific protocols such as the maintenance and
loading of weapons”.
After the shooting, Mr Baldwin said the gun
had misfired. He added that he did not pull the trigger and was not aware that
it was loaded. “I don’t know what happened on that set. I don’t know how that
bullet arrived in that gun. I don’t know,” he said.
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