Alec Baldwin charged again with involuntary manslaughter in 'Rust' shooting

[Walter Duerson]

A New Mexico grand jury has charged Alec Baldwin with involuntary
manslaughter for his role in the deadly shooting of the cinematographer
during production of the ill-fated western movie “Rust.”

The indictment, filed Friday, was signed by special prosecutor Kari T.
Morrissey, who has been handling the case.

If convicted of the charge, a fourth-degree felony, Baldwin could serve up
to 18 months in prison, according to New Mexico law.

The high-stakes decision to charge Baldwin comes more than two years after
Baldwin accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director
Joel Souza during a Oct. 21, 2021, rehearsal in an old western church at
Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular high desert movie location south of Santa
Fe, N.M. Hutchins died that afternoon and Souza, who was shot in the
shoulder, recovered.

“We look forward to our day in court,” said Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas
and Alex Spiro in a statement.

New Mexico’s wrongful death prosecution has been fraught. In January, the
district attorney who oversees Santa Fe County, Mary Carmack-Altwies,
filed two involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin as well as the
film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who loaded the gun. Carmack-Altwies
said at the time “sufficient evidence” existed to charge Baldwin
criminally.

But after Carmack-Altwies stepped down from the case, Morrissey and Lewis
took over as special prosecutors. In late April, they dropped the charges
against the 65-year-old Hollywood star.

“New facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic
analysis,” Morrissey said then. Sources who were not authorized to comment
said prosecutors were told the gun had been modified before being
delivered to the set.

The actor has long maintained that he didn’t pull the trigger, only that
he pulled back the gun’s hammer. When Baldwin was handed the gun, he was
told that it was “cold,” meaning it had no ammunition. However, the gun
contained five so-called dummy rounds and one live bullet.

A respected firearms expert, Lucien C. Haag, was brought in by prosecutors
to determine whether the Italian-made Pietta pistol, a replica of a
vintage 1873 model, was functional or faulty, which could have contributed
to the deadly accident on set.

“Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the
tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be
pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted
hammer of the evidence revolver,” Haag wrote in his Aug. 3 report.

The weapons provider, Seth Kenney, said in a July witness interview that
the gun Baldwin used was new. Kenney said he had just received it from a
California supplier, via Federal Express, and he transferred it to the
prop master who was hired to work on “Rust.”

Baldwin was one of the producers of “Rust.” The star — who achieved
acclaim for performances on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock,” as
well as movies “Glengarry Glen Ross,” and “The Hunt for Red October,”
among others — could now face a criminal trial or accept a plea bargain.

Gutierrez Reed still faces the involuntary manslaughter charges. The judge
overseeing the criminal case, Mary Marlowe Sommer, has scheduled a Feb. 21
trial for Gutierrez Reed. She has pleaded not guilty.

Investigators have not identified the source of the live bullets — six
were found on set.

“Rust” producers were determined to finish the story of Harland Rust, a
fictional 1880s Kansas outlaw, played by Baldwin. They resumed filming the
movie in Montana last spring, after Morrissey and Lewis dropped the
initial charges against Baldwin.

Producers have said the movie will be a tribute to Hutchins, the 42-year-
old film cinematographer who died.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-01-19/alec-
baldwin-charges-rust-shooting-hutchins