Actor Alec Baldwin will be charged for his connection to the death of a cinematographer on the set of the film “Rust.”
It was reported on Thursday that Baldwin is facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, armorer on the set, is also facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
BREAKING: Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting on the New Mexico set of the film "Rust," officials say. @LinseyDavis has the latest. https://t.co/TugbcNzcgE pic.twitter.com/VmGiDlrbqn
— ABC News (@ABC) January 19, 2023
The charges come after the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film.
Baldwin operated the gun that led to Hutchins’ death.
“You should not point a gun at someone that you’re not willing to shoot,” the district attorney for Santa Fe County, Mary Carmack-Altwies, told The New York Times.
She added, “That goes to basic safety standards.”
A lawyer for Baldwin, Luke Nikas, issued a statement responding to the charges.
“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’s tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set,” Nikas said.
The lawyer continued, “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.”
Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor appointed by the district attorney, told the Times if “any one of these three people — Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls — had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today.”
Halls, the film’s first assistant director, handed Baldwin the gun. Halls agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, in exchange for a suspended sentence, The Times reported.
Reeb argued the evidence “clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously.”
The newspaper noted if the pair are convicted of this manslaughter charge, it holds more weight because it includes a firearm enhancement. As such, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed would face a mandatory sentence of five years.
According to the report, the other manslaughter would require a sentence of up to 18 months.
