Alec Baldwin has been indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the 2021 shooting on the set of the film Rust. The 65-year-old actor is being held accountable for the on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The decision came down today after special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis presented evidence to a New Mexico grand jury.
Charges were initially set in January 2023. In February, the charges against him and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with a reduced prison sentence. In the spring of 2023, the charges were then dropped after the actor’s legal team argued a problem was with his gun, a Colt .45 handgun.
No trial date has been set, but he could face up to 18 months in prison.
Alec Baldwin Indicted on Manslaughter Charge in Rust Shooting a Year After Charges Were Dropped
The incident occurred in October 2021 when the film was in production. They were filming on a ranch near ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The cinematographer was setting up when the gun went off and killed her. The actor has been adamant that he did not pull the trigger.
Testing had been done since last summer to further investigate what would eventually lead to today’s development of Alec Baldwin being indicted on the shooting. The prosecutors had their experts, Lucien and Michael Haag, reconstruct the gun that was broken during a test done by the FBI. They concluded that the trigger must have been pulled for it to fire and that no malfunction could be detected.
In November, NBC obtained videos of the actor practicing with a prop gun, shooting various guns, and talking to the crew about their safety. It was reportedly a chaotic set with multiple violations to typical on-set standards for safety, especially when firearms are being used.
Gutierrez-Reed was previously indicted on the involuntary manslaughter charges. The armorer will have a trial on February 21. She pleaded not guilty.
