Actor and producer Alec Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a fatal shooting during the production of his film Rust.
(Bloomberg) — Actor and producer Alec Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a fatal shooting during the production of his film Rust.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of the weapons during the filming, will be charged with the same criminal counts, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a press release Thursday.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot and killed on the film’s set in Santa Fe in 2021. Assistant director Davis Halls has signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, according to Carmack-Altwies.
“If any of these three people — Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls — had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today,” she said.
Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas, with the law firm of Quinn Emanuel, said his client had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun he was using, or anywhere on the set.
“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice,” he said in an emailed statement. “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.”
The SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors, defended Baldwin in a statement, saying it isn’t an actor’s job to be a weapons expert.
No charges will be filed in the shooting of director Joel Souza, who was wounded in the incident. Involuntary manslaughter is punishable with up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Brian Panish, an attorney for the Hutchins family, thanked the Santa Fe sheriff and district attorney for their work, and said the family supported the charges.
“It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law,” he said.
Baldwin returned to filming in February 2022, nearly four months after the shooting. He posted a video diary to his Instagram about returning to the set of upcoming action thriller 97 Minutes.
“It’s strange to go back to work,” he said in the video. “I haven’t gone back to work since October 21 of last year when we had the accidental death of our cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. I still find that hard to say.”
Baldwin had a cameo appearance in the 2022 film Tar, which he finished before the accident.
(Updates with actor’s union comment in seventh paragraph.)
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