Actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie « Rust, » as will the armorer who oversaw all weapons used in the production.
Actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust,” as will the armorer who oversaw all weapons used in the production.
Baldwin, who has maintained he was not aware the gun he fired contained a live round, called the New Mexico prosecutors’ decision “a terrible miscarriage of justice,” according to his attorney, Luke Nikas, who vowed to fight the charges.
Jason Bowles, an attorney for the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, said a jury will find his client not guilty because she has “committed no crime.”
Hutchins was struck and killed in 2021 by a live round of ammunition fired from a prop gun being held by Baldwin, who maintains he did not pull the gun’s trigger. Director Joel Souza was also injured. Charges will not be filed against Souza, prosecutors said.
The cause of death is listed as “gunshot wound of chest,” and the manner of death as an “accident.”
“It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law,” said a statement from attorney Brian J. Panish, on behalf of the Hutchins family.
Here is why New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who spoke with CNN on Thursday, said she decided to file charges:
Other actors – including “A-list” celebrities – consulted by prosecutors said they “always check their guns or have someone check it in front of them,” Carmack-Altwies told CNN shortly after announcing her intention to file involuntary manslaughter charges.
“Every person that handles a gun has a duty to make sure that if they’re going to handle that gun, point it at someone and pull the trigger, that it is not going to fire a projectile and kill someone,” she said.
