A U.S. prosecutor filed involuntary manslaughter charges Tuesday against actor Alec Baldwin and gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed following the accident that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film ‘Rust’.
Mary Carmack-Altwies, district attorney of Santa Fe County, New Mexico, has also announced charges against assistant director David Hall for negligent use of a weapon, CNN reported.
«Today we have taken another important step to ensure justice for Halyna Hutchins,» said the U.S. attorney, adding that «in New Mexico no one is above the law», so «justice will be done.
The facts date back to October 2021, when the actor fired, during the filming of a scene in New Mexico, a firearm that should have been a blank. Halyna Hutchins, 42, died of serious injuries from the gunshot wound while being transported by helicopter to a hospital in Albuquerque.
Baldwin sued the gunsmith and several crew members involved in the film’s production for negligence in November for the fatal shooting, which also injured director Joel Souza, who was in serious condition at a Santa Fe hospital.
The complaint alleged that the gunsmith «failed to carefully check the bullets or the gun.» Also that Halls «examined the gun carefully and yet announced that the gun was safe before handing it to the actor,» 64.
FBI forensic tests concluded that the gun carried by Baldwin that killed Hutchins could not have been fired without pulling the trigger. The actor had previously stated that he did not do so.
Authorities ultimately described what happened as an accident because a review of available police reports «showed no convincing demonstration» that the firearm was «intentionally loaded with live ammunition on the set.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
