Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of camera woman Halyna Hutchins when he unwittingly pointed a gun at her during filming of the movie ‘Rust.’ Someone put a live bullet in the gun. The charges are dismissed for now.
The case against Alec Baldwin never seemed criminal to me.
The Wall Street Journal announced that charges against Alec Baldwin were dropped over the possibility the trigger was never pulled. Alec Baldwin insisted he didn’t pull the trigger. It is possible, but the FBI analysis showed the trigger was pulled. What’s new is there is some evidence the gun was modified.
Mr. Baldwin has said he didn’t pull the trigger, and he didn’t know there was a live round in the gun.
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“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” he told ABC News in December 2021. “Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
The gun was modified!
The gun was modified before it reached the set in a way that could have allowed it to fire a bullet without the trigger being pulled, the person with knowledge of the case said.
The Santa Fe-area District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies previously said that a Federal Bureau of Investigation analysis of the gun showed that the trigger was pulled, which she said was a key piece of evidence in the case.
I’m not sure what difference it makes. Ms. Hutchins told him to point the gun at her. He’s not accused of trying to murder her. It doesn’t seem like much of a case. He was told the gun had blanks in it when it was handed to him. The person who loaded the gun is responsible. That’s a personal opinion.
They likely didn’t think they could move ahead given the evidence. One prosecutor had to recuse herself because Baldwin’s lawyers were attempting to declare her unqualified.
NBC News reported:
The statement, from Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, does not say what those facts are but says they require additional investigation and forensic analysis.
“Consequently, we cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form,” the prosecutors said. “We therefore will be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin to conduct further investigation.”
The prosecutors added that decision does not “absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability.” Charges may be refiled, they said.
Those new facts were discovered over “the last few days” while preparing for a preliminary hearing. The hearing was scheduled for May 3, the special prosecutors said, reports CBS News.
“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, the attorneys for Baldwin, said in a statement, reports ABC News.
The civil suit is ongoing.
In January, prosecutors also brought involuntary manslaughter charges against the film’s armorer in charge of weapons, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. The charges remain.
Filming of “Rust” recently resumed at Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana. Baldwin is on the set.
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