Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter

Actor and producer Alec Baldwin was charged with “involuntary manslaughter” in Thursday’s shooting on the set of “Rust,” the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office said.

“‘Rust’ actor and producer Alec Baldwin and gunman Hannah Gutierrez-Reid will be charged with two counts of manslaughter in connection with the 2021 death of Halina Hutchins on the set of the 2021 Santa County movie Loyalty,” Mary Cormack-Altweiss announced. New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney, Thursday morning.

The film’s assistant director, David Halls, has signed a plea deal to a “charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement, with terms of the deal including six months of suspended probation.

No charges will be filed against director Joel Sosa, the statement said.

In a written statement, Baldwin’s attorney, Chloe Melas, said the decision “destroys the tragic death of Halina Hutchins.”

“Mr Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun or anywhere in the footage. He relied on the experts he worked with to assure him that the weapon contained no bullets. We will fight against these allegations and win,” he said.

For his part, Jason Bowles, a lawyer for the gun company Gutierrez Reed, released a statement in which he said: “They are absolutely wrong about Hannah: we expect the jury to find her not guilty and conclude that she did not commit murder. . She is shaken by the tragedy, but No crime was committed.”

In March 2022, Gutierrez said Reid was not called to inspect the gun, which ultimately fired a live bullet, wounding Hutchins. He released the statement in response to a legal filing in which Baldwin said Hutchins pointed the gun at him.

“Mr. Baldwin knew that under no circumstances could he fire a gun at crew members and that he had a duty to protect his fellow crew members,” Gutierrez-Reid said.

“However, he pointed the gun at Halina before the fatal incident against all rules and common sense,” he added.

facts

Baldwin was holding a gun while rehearsing a scene for the film at Bonanza Creek Ranch, New Mexico in October 2021 when a shot was fired, killing cinematographer Halina Hutchins and wounding director Joel Sosa.

Since then, the episode has unleashed a whirlwind of accusations of negligence by those involved. Baldwin says he didn’t pull the trigger.

An autopsy summary of Hutchins’ death, duly signed by New Mexico’s chief medical examiner, lists the cause of death as “gunshot to the chest” and the manner of death as “accidental.”

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