SANTA FE, N.M. – Particular prosecutors stated Tuesday they’re in search of to recharge actor Alec Baldwin within the 2021 deadly taking pictures on a Western film set in New Mexico by presenting proof to a grand jury.
New Mexico-based prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis stated they’ll current proof to grand jury throughout the subsequent two months, noting that “additional facts” have come to gentle within the taking pictures on the set of the movie “Rust” that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Baldwin, a coproducer of the movie, was pointing a gun at Hutchins throughout a rehearsal on the movie’s set on exterior Santa Fe when the gun went off on Oct. 21, 2021, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
“Additional facts have come to light that we believe show Mr. Baldwin has criminal culpability in the death of Halyna Hutchins and the shooting of Joel Souza,” Morrissey and Lewis stated in an electronic mail. “We believe the appropriate course of action is to permit a panel of New Mexico citizens to determine from here whether Mr. Baldwin should be held over for criminal trial.”
Baldwin has stated he pulled again the hammer — however not the set off — and the gun fired.
“It is unfortunate that a terrible tragedy has been turned into this misguided prosecution. We will answer any charges in court,” Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro stated in an electronic mail.
Particular prosecutors initially dismissed an involuntary manslaughter cost towards Baldwin in April, saying they have been knowledgeable the gun might need been modified earlier than the taking pictures and malfunctioned. They later pivoted and started weighing whether or not to refile a cost towards Baldwin after receiving a brand new evaluation of the gun.
The latest gun evaluation from consultants in ballistics and forensic testing based mostly in Arizona and New Mexico relied on alternative elements to reassemble the gun fired by Baldwin — after elements of the pistol have been damaged throughout earlier testing by the FBI. The report examined the gun and markings it left on a spent cartridge to conclude that the set off needed to have been pulled or depressed.
The evaluation led by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Providers in Arizona said that though Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the set off, “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.”
The weapons supervisor on the film set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has pleaded not responsible to involuntary manslaughter and proof tampering within the case. Her trial is scheduled to start in February.
In March, “Rust” assistant director and security coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to a conviction for unsafe dealing with of a firearm and obtained a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate within the investigation of the taking pictures.
The 2021 taking pictures resulted in a sequence of civil lawsuits centered on accusations that the defendants have been lax with security requirements. The circumstances have included wrongful demise claims filed by members of Hutchins’ household. Baldwin and different defendants have disputed accusations they have been lax with security requirements.
