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The decision comes after prosecutors completed an investigation into whether the gun used in the shooting could have been modified to discharge without a pull of the trigger.
By Winston Cho
New Mexico prosecutors will convene a grand jury to weigh recharging Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 shooting death of the cinematographer on the set of Rust, marking the latest turn in a case that has drawn widespread attention for high-profile blunders by the prosecution and igniting discussion of set safety on low-budget movies.
The decision comes after a five-month investigation that culminated with a forensic expert issuing a report clashing with an account of the incident from Baldwin, who maintained that he did not pull the trigger on the firearm when it discharged. New Mexico prosecutors in April dropped charges against the actor to review new evidence suggesting that the gun he was holding had been modified. They reserved the ability to refile charges.
In a statement, special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said that “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.” They added, “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.”
Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, Baldwin’s lawyers, said in a statement, “It is unfortunate that a terrible tragedy has been turned into this misguided prosecution. We will answer any charges in court.”
The shooting occurred on Oct. 21, 2021, when an old-fashioned revolver being handled by Baldwin went off. Assistant director Dave Halls had handed Baldwin the gun and said that it did not contain live ammunition, but it discharged in the direction of Hutchins, who was killed, and director Joel Souza, who was injured. Five live rounds mixed in with dummy rounds were found on set following the shooting. It remains unknown how the live rounds ended up on the set.
In their original case, prosecutors alleged that Baldwin, as an actor, should have assumed the gun he was handling was loaded with live rounds and known that “the first rule of gun safety is never to point a gun at someone you don’t intend on shooting,” according to the filing. He also neglected to undergo “required firearms training prior to the commencement of filming,” even “after [armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed] requested more training.” Baldwin was also alleged to have fostered an unsafe set by hiring Gutierrez-Reed as lead armorer and to have neglected to address multiple safety violations before the shooting, including prior misfires.
The decision to convene a grand jury puts a brighter spotlight on the prosecution, which has been marred by oversights. After Gutierrez-Reed and Baldwin were charged with two counts each of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors were forced into downgrading charges because they’d cited a law that was not in effect at the time of the shooting. Former special prosecutor Andrea Reeb, who was initially overseeing the case, was then forced to step down because of a conflict of interest with her elected position in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies also excused herself from all matters related to the prosecution after the decision.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, have been escalating their case against Gutierrez-Reed. She was charged in June with evidence tampering for allegedly offering narcotics to escape prosecution. A filing alleges she “did transfer narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself.” The weapons supervisor was also accused of “drinking heavily and smoking marijuana” in the evening during the filming of Rust and likely being hungover when she loaded the gun that discharged with a live round. Further details weren’t disclosed.
The charge was filed after the lead investigator into the shooting was abruptly kicked off the case, sparking allegations that the prosecution is hiding evidence.
“The current special prosecutor has directed that I conduct no further investigation into this matter,” Robert Schilling, the investigator, wrote in an email sent Tuesday to Carmack-Altwies. “The conduct of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office during and after their initial investigation is reprehensible and unprofessional to a degree I still have no words for. Not I or 200 more proficient investigators than I can/could clean up the mess delivered to your office in October 2022.”
Prosecutors are continuing to look into Baldwin’s duty to oversee safety on the set of Rust. A New Mexico judge on Oct. 10 ruled that the movie’s production entity must turn over records that could indicate whether Baldwin shirked industrywide set-safety norms to shoot the film on a shoestring budget. Prosecutors are seeking documents between Rust Movie Productions and the actor, as well as his production company El Dorado Pictures. They are investigating the possibility that Baldwin stood to profit if he cut corners on set safety related to the use of guns.
The ruling was delivered after the judge declined to dismiss charges in August against Gutierrez-Reed, who who argued that prosecutors tainted the investigation to the point a fair trial is no longer possible, didn’t have the authority to bring charges and that her due process rights were violated. Her trial is scheduled to start in February.
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