On Thursday, prosecutors announced that they will charge Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with two counts each of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Baldwin’s Rust set.
The announcement of the charge comes over two years after Alec Baldwin shot and killed 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza with a live round from a prop gun.
According to CBS News National Correspondent Kris Van Cleve, Assistant Director David Hall "has signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. The terms include a suspended sentence and six months probation."
No charges were filed in connection to the shooting of Rust director Joel Souza, who was injured but survived.
In a statement from New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, she stated that her office will file criminal charges against the two by the end of the month.
"After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the ‘Rust’ film crew,” Carmack-Altwies said. "On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice."
"Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be 'charged in the alternative’ with the two counts of manslaughter, meaning that a jury would decide not simply if they were guilty, but under which definition of involuntary manslaughter they were guilty," a statement from her office said.
Involuntary manslaughter is a fourth-degree felony in the state of New Mexico, and carries an 18-month jail sentence and a $5,000 fine.
Carmack-Altwies noted that "The other charge is involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act," which is also a fourth-degree felony carrying the same sentencing.
"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. It’s that simple," said Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor appointed by the DA to the case. "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."
In 2021, Baldwin had said in an interview with George Stephanopolous that he "didn’t pull the trigger," but a later FBI analysis concluded that he did in fact pull the trigger.
It was found that the prop gun had been loaded with live rounds, and that the gun had misfired multiple times leading up to the fatal shooting.
In April of 2022, New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau fined Rust Movie Productions $136,793, the maximum possible fine.
The bureau also reportedly issued a "scathing narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols," which included testimony that the production’s managers took little to no action to address two previous misfires leading up to the fatal October shooting.
They also documented numerous gun safety complaints brought forth by crew members that they say went unnoticed, and said that weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions regarding additional safety training.
The production’s head armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had previously had a number of complaints lodged against her in regard to concerns over her careless handling of weapons. Gutierrez-Reed and her assistants had also been allegedly been playing with weapons on the set of Rust. Hutchins had reportedly been advocating for safer conditions for her team.
In November of 2022, Baldwin launched a lawsuit against several crew members of the film for reckless and dereliction of duty.
The suit named Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the chief armorer, Assistant Director Dave Halls, Prop Master Sarah Zachry and Seth Kenney, the gun supplier.
The previous month, Baldwin settled with Hutchins’ family in a wrongful death suit. As part of the agreement, Matthew Hutchins, Halyna’s widower, will act as an executive producer when the film resumes production.
In October 2022, it was revealed that Rust would resume production in January, but the production would not resume in New Mexico, according to Variety.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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