Alec Baldwin indicted for involuntary manslaughter in fatal gunfire on film set

A new accusation for involuntary manslaughter has been made against actor Alec Baldwin following the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the movie set of Rust in 2021.

Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Friday, even though the prosecution had thrown out the identical charge against him several months prior.

In October 2021, whilst rehearsing for Rust, a western-themed drama, Baldwin was holding a gun and aiming it at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The gun fired, tragically taking Halyna's life and injuring Joel Souza, who is the film's director.

Baldwin, a person involved in both producing and acting in the movie, claims that he did not actually press the trigger which caused the gun to shoot, but instead pulled the hammer back before it went off.

In April of last year, Baldwin had a manslaughter charge dropped due to possible modifications to the firearm that may have caused it to malfunction during the shooting. The special prosecutors believed that a forensic analysis was necessary to determine the cause of the malfunction. However, in August, the prosecutors announced that they were reconsidering pressing charges after conducting a new analysis on the weapon.

A team of experts in the fields of ballistics and forensic testing, who were hired by the prosecutors, recently released a report stating that while Alec Baldwin claims he did not pull the trigger, the evidence and tests clearly show that the trigger was indeed pulled or pressed down enough to release the hammer on the revolver in question.

This week, the prosecutors presented a fresh case to a grand jury in Santa Fe.

The lawyers for Baldwin, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, stated by email on Friday that they are eagerly anticipating the day they will appear in court.

Baldwin and his fellow producers are also dealing with civil lawsuits that demand monetary compensation, which includes some members of the Rust production team. However, judges have opted to pause those cases until the criminal investigation is completed.

In February, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for overseeing weapons on the set of Rust, will face trial for charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.

Last year, Gutierrez-Reed claimed she was innocent. The prosecutors argued that she acted irresponsibly by giving the loaded gun to Baldwin on the set. They also accused her of not making sure that all the rounds in the weapon were fake. According to the prosecutors, Gutierrez-Reed had been drinking the night before the tragic event, and they suspected that she was suffering from a hangover during the shooting.

The accusation of tampering arises from the assertion that Gutierrez-Reed provided a little pouch of cocaine to another individual subsequent to being interrogated by law enforcement.

The legal representatives of Gutierrez-Reed had previously requested for the charges of involuntary manslaughter against her to be dismissed. They are now alleging that the prosecutors have mishandled the case and are trying to defame their client's character.

Last year, Baldwin's lawyers requested that a previous special prosecutor be removed from the case due to her position as a state representative in the legislature. Consequently, she stepped down from the case.

The safety coordinator and assistant director of the film, David Halls, accepted that he had handled a firearm in an unsafe manner in March last year. However, he assisted in the investigation, and as a result, received a probation sentence for six months. Baldwin and Halls both claim to have no knowledge of the presence of live rounds in the gun. When the charges against Baldwin were dismissed last year, Halls's attorney issued a statement stating that Halls never believed that Baldwin would face any criminal charges. The attorney mentioned that the entire event was a tragic accident and should be resolved outside of the criminal justice system.

The movie production company, Rust, had to pay a fine of $100,000 to New Mexico regulators for safety in the workplace. They were charged with breaching industry standards and neglecting to fix problems that had surfaced when there were two shooting incidents before the unfortunate demise of Hutchins.

Last year in April, Rust started production again. A deal was made between Matthew Hutchins, who was married to the deceased cinematographer, and the film company that made him an executive producer on the project.

The devastating event has caused waves throughout the entertainment industry and prompted advancements in firearms protection, according to industry professionals.

The news article was made possible with additional inputs from the Associated Press.