New Mexico prosecutors intend to recharge Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter for Rust shooting: ‘Additional facts have come to light’
- Baldwin shot and killed Halyna Hutchins on Rust set in Santa Fe in October 2021
- He has always maintained it was an accident that he bears no responsibility for
- Prosecutors dismissed charges against him in April but said they reserved the right to charge him again
New Mexico prosecutors intend to recharge actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his movie Rust in October 2021.
The special prosecutors in charge of the case confirmed today that they were seeking new charges.
They said ‘additional facts’ have come to light, and that they intend to put the case before a grand jury sometime in the next two months.
If convicted, Baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison.
Actor Alec Baldwin, pictured earlier this month in the Hamptons, will be charged again with manslaughter in mid-November if the grand jury agrees
Baldwin, his wife Hilaria and their seven children at a film festival in East Hampton on October 7
The case against Baldwin was dismissed in April this year citing new evidence in the case that suggested the gun he was using could have been modified before he handled it, and malfunctioned as a result.
At the time, special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said they reserved the right to recharge Baldwin.
‘This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled,’ they said.
A report in August of this year confirmed that the gun had not been modified.
Baldwin is yet to comment. He always maintained it was a fatal accident that he bears no responsibility for.
The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter. Her trial date has been set for next February.
Dave Halls, the movie’s assistant director, accepted a plea deal on a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
In March, he was sentenced to six months of supervised probation.
Baldwin with Hutchins (center) and other members of the film’s cast on set in Santa Fe
Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the movie set of his western Rust in October 2021
Baldwin was filming a scene inside a church on October 21 when Baldwin, dressed in costume, pulled his gun from its holster.
He insists it fired spontaneously, first striking director Joel Souza in the shoulder, then hitting Halyna.
She was taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
The actor was buckled with emotion, sobbing outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office where he’d been interviewed after learning that Halyna had died.
Her widower, initially, said Baldwin had been compassionate and helpful to the family.
In subsequent interviews, he emphatically told how the shooting couldn’t have been his fault, and that he’d repeatedly asked the armorer if the gun was ‘hot’ or ‘cold’.
It remains a mystery how live rounds ended up on the set.
The first prosecutor in charge of the case took a year to charge Baldwin, then herself gave multiple interviews to the press.
Baldwin and his attorneys argued that he was being made an example of by a fame-hungry, overzealous prosecutor.
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