TAOS, N.M.: American actor Alec Baldwin faces involuntary manslaughter charges carrying prison time in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the 2021 filming of Western "Rust" in New Mexico.
Santa Fe's top prosecutor, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, said on Thursday that the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, would also be charged with involuntary manslaughter. She said charges would be filed by the end of this month.
Hutchins' family welcomed the announcement, while Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas said, "this decision distorts Halyna Hutchins' tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice."
The charging decision followed more than a year of investigation after a pistol was fired in October 2021 as Baldwin, 64, was rehearsing with it on the set of his movie "Rust" outside Santa Fe. The movie's director, Joel Souza, was hit and wounded by the same .45-caliber bullet that killed Hutchins.
According to a police report, David Halls, the assistant director who handed the gun to Baldwin, told the actor it was "cold," an industry term meaning it did not contain blank rounds. Halls signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, Carmack-Altwies said in her statement. Gutierrez-Reed had handled the gun before Halls.
Prosecutors told the New York Times it was part of industry standards for actors to check that firearms they used were safe to handle and to follow a basic gun safety practice of never pointing them at anyone.
Baldwin has pushed back at that idea, saying firearm safety was the responsibility of the armorer and first director and that he was directed to aim the pistol at the cinematographer.
"You should not point a gun at someone that you're not willing to shoot," Carmack-Altwies said in an interview with the Times on Thursday.
Prosecutors could face long odds securing a conviction, according to legal experts, who said that if on-set professionals told Baldwin the gun did not contain live ammunition, he wouldn't be obligated to inspect it himself.
"It's a very aggressive charging decision, and the defense has a strong case," said personal injury attorney and former prosecutor Neama Rahmani, who was not involved in the "Rust" case. "Accidents like this are not enough for criminal liability."
Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be charged "in the alternative" with two counts of manslaughter, meaning a jury will decide not only if they were guilty, but under which definition of involuntary manslaughter, the prosecutor said.
Simple involuntary manslaughter for negligence is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine. Should prosecutors prove there was more than simple negligence involved in the use of a firearm, they could face a mandatory five-year jail term.
Baldwin has denied responsibility for Hutchins' death and said he did not pull the trigger of the replica Pietta .45-caliber long Colt revolver.
An FBI forensic test of the revolver found it "functioned normally" and would not fire without the trigger being pulled.
"Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set. 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," his attorney Nikas said.
Firearms guidance from SAG-AFTRA, a union representing U.S. film and television actors, instructs artists to treat firearms as though they are loaded with blanks and recommends consulting a safety handler before pointing a gun at someone on camera, and never placing a finger on a trigger unless ready to shoot.
The guide reminds actors that blank ammunition can kill and live ammunition is never to be brought onto a film set.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office investigation did not reveal how live ammunition got onto the "Rust" set.
Brian Panish, a lawyer representing the Hutchins family, said his own investigation found charges were warranted.
The family sued Baldwin in 2021, alleging the Emmy-winning "30 Rock" and "Saturday Night Live" actor had a responsibility to check that the gun did not contain blank rounds, to not cock the weapon and to not point it at Hutchins and pull the trigger.
The family subsequently reached a settlement in which Matt Hutchins became an executive producer of "Rust." Production was set to resume early in 2023 outside New Mexico.
New Mexico's worker safety agency in April fined the film's production company $137,000, the maximum amount possible, for what it described as "willful" safety lapses leading to Hutchins' death.
Hours before the incident, camera operators walked off the set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, south of Santa Fe, protesting what they saw as poor set safety and working conditions.
Lawyer Duncan Levin said the case revolved around ill-defined film industry firearm safety standards and seemed more a question of civil law than a criminal case.
"Prosecutors have a lot of work ahead of them to demonstrate that putting Alec Baldwin in prison for this is the right outcome," said Levin, who has represented actors and entertainment personalities.
Reuters
Fri Jan 20 2023
Baldwin has pushed back at that idea, saying firearm safety was the responsibility of the armorer and first director and that he was directed to aim the pistol at the cinematographer. - AP/Filepic
Turkiye sertai Afrika Selatan tuduh Israel di ICJ
Turkiye akan menyerahkan pengisytiharan campur tangan rasmi kepada ICJ dengan objektif membantu mempercepatkan tindakan ke atas Israel.
Asmaa berjalan kaki berjam lamanya demi roti
Situasi di Gaza jauh berbeza dengan tempat-tempat lain. Bangunan musnah, ditambah ketiadaan sumber asas - tempat tinggal, bekalan air serta makanan...pastinya terlintas di fikiran bagaimana kehidupan seharian mereka di saat nyawa sentiasa menjadi ancaman. Menyelami kehidupan masyarakat Palestin di Gaza, ada yang terpaksa berjalan berjam-jam lamanya ke satu tempat untuk mendapatkan alas perut buat keluarga.
'Puluhan ribu gugur terkena mesin perang Zionis'
Masa yang sepatutnya diguna untuk meraikan sambutan Hari Pekerja Sedunia diganti dengan himpunan untuk menunjukkan tanda bersolidariti dengan rakyat Palestin. Itu yang berlaku di Tunisia yang mana ribuan rakyatnya berhimpun di ibu negara Tunis sebagai tanda sokongan terhadap penduduk Gaza dengan memanggil himpunan sebagai 'May Day'.
Lebuh raya runtuh, 24 maut
Menurut CCTV, pihak berkuasa China menghantar kira-kira 500 anggota penyelamat ke lokasi insiden.
TPM yakin produktiviti akan meningkat seiring kenaikan gaji
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yakin produktiviti dan prestasi penjawat awam akan dilipatgandakan seiring dengan keputusan Kerajaan menaikkan gaji kumpulan itu melebihi 13% bermula 1 Disember ini.
Ancaman bom palsu cetus panik di 100 sekolah di India
Ancaman bom palsu telah mencetuskan panik di sekolah di ibu negara India pada pagi Rabu dengan ibu bapa bergegas membawa pulang anak-anak mereka.
Anak muda bangkit gesa pemimpin buat pendirian tetap
Anak muda mula menunjukkan semangat kebangkitan tatkala dunia masih celaru untuk menghentikan kehilangan nyawa berterusan rakyat Palestin di Gaza. Suara yang diketepi diakhiri dengan protes besar-besar yang menjadi polemik dalam kalangan mahasiswa di Amerika Syarikat ketika ini.
Migran banjiri 'Mount Street' dipindah ke penempatan baharu
200 buah khemah yang digunakan imigran di bandar Dublin dirampas dan dibersihkan dari pemandangan ibu negara Ireland pada pagi Rabu. Imigran yang berlindung di situ kemudian ditempatkan di pusat yang telah disediakan.
TPM yakin produktiviti akan meningkat seiring kenaikan gaji
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yakin produktiviti dan prestasi penjawat awam akan dilipatgandakan seiring dengan keputusan Kerajaan menaikkan gaji kumpulan itu melebihi 13% bermula 1 Disember ini.
Henti pusing modal lama - Ahmad Zahid
Presiden UMNO, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi memberi amaran kepada semua pihak untuk tidak 'memusing' modal lama sepanjang berkempen pada Pilihan Raya Kecil Kuala Kubu Baharu yang sedang berlangsung, semata-mata untuk mencalarkan imej UMNO dan Barisan Nasional.
Pengendali senjata api filem Rust dipenjara 18 bulan
PENGENDALI senjata api untuk filem bajet, Rust, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed dihukum penjara 18 bulan pada Isnin berhubung insiden kematian ahli sinematografi, selepas ditembak aktor, Alec Baldwin.
Alec Baldwin didakwa sekali lagi bunuh tanpa sengaja
Pertuduhan bunuh tanpa sengaja yang pertama terhadap Baldwin diterangkan dalam dokumen mahkamah sebagai "penggunaan senjata api secara cuai."
Keluarga Halyna Hutchins bakal kemuka saman terhadap Alec Baldwin
Peguam keluarga mangsa berkata pelakon itu "tidak boleh lepas daripada tanggungjawab" yang menyebabkan kematiannya.
Tuduhan membunuh terhadap pelakon Alec Baldwin digugurkan
Tuduhan terhadap Alec Baldwin atas pendakwaan membunuh tanpa sengaja di lokasi penggambaran filem Rust telah digugurkan.
Alec Baldwin mengaku tidak bersalah tembak ahli sinematografi
Alec Baldwin mengaku tidak bersalah atas pertuduhan membunuh tanpa sengaja ahli sinematografi, Halyna Hutchins.
Pertuduhan membunuh petugas set pada 2021 ke atas Baldwin dikurangkan
Pendakwa raya telah mengurangkan pertuduhan terhadap pelakon dan penerbit Amerika Alec Baldwin berkaitan kematian seorang petugas set filem 'Rust" pada 2021.
Alec Baldwin didakwa secara rasmi tembak mati kru penggambaran
Alec Baldwin didakwa secara rasmi atas pertuduhan menembak mati seorang ahli sinematografi filem di set penggambaran pada Oktober 2021.
Tembakan di set filem: Pelakon Alec Baldwin akan didakwa
Pelakon dan penerbit Amerika Alec Baldwin akan didakwa atas pertuduhan menembak maut kru filem di set penggambaran filem baharunya Rust pada 2021.
Insiden babitkan Alec Baldwin: Laporan forensik FBI dapati picu pistol ditarik
Pelakon yang memenangi Golden Globe, sebelum ini mendakwa dia tidak menarik picu pistol.
Keluarga mangsa tembakan di set penggambaran saman Alec Baldwin
Mereka mendakwa kesemua yang dinamakan itu tidak mempraktikkan amalan standard industri perfileman.