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‘Rust’ Prosecutors Are Dropping Charges Against Alec Baldwin, His Lawyers Say ‘Rust’ Prosecutors Are Dropping Charges Against Alec Baldwin, His Lawyers Say
(32 minutes later)
Lawyers for Alec Baldwin said on Thursday that New Mexico prosecutors were dropping the involuntary manslaughter charges he was facing in the 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer who was killed on the set of the film “Rust” when a gun he was practicing with went off.Lawyers for Alec Baldwin said on Thursday that New Mexico prosecutors were dropping the involuntary manslaughter charges he was facing in the 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer who was killed on the set of the film “Rust” when a gun he was practicing with went off.
In a statement, Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said, “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.”In a statement, Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said, “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.”
The district attorney’s office for Santa Fe County, which had brought the charges against Mr. Baldwin this year, did not immediately comment. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting. Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office for Santa Fe County, which had brought the charges against Mr. Baldwin this year, declined to comment.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting. A lawyer for Ms. Gutierrez-Reed, Jason Bowles, said that he had been informed of the prosecutors’ decision to dismiss the case against Mr. Baldwin, but that the charge against his client remained.
The charges related to the Oct. 21, 2021, shooting on the set of “Rust,” a western, when the gun Mr. Baldwin was holding went off, killing the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding its director, Joel Souza. Mr. Baldwin had been told there was no live ammunition in the gun.The charges related to the Oct. 21, 2021, shooting on the set of “Rust,” a western, when the gun Mr. Baldwin was holding went off, killing the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding its director, Joel Souza. Mr. Baldwin had been told there was no live ammunition in the gun.
The prosecution had already faced several setbacks, and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies stepped down from the case last month, appointing two New Mexico lawyers, Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, as special prosecutors. Ms. Morrissey and Mr. Lewis did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The decision comes as filming in the movie is set to resume this week in Montana, where the production has moved from New Mexico. The revived production has Ms. Hutchins’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, as an executive producer.
Andrea Reeb, the case’s previous special prosecutor, removed herself after Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers had argued that her appointment violated the State Constitution because she also serves as a state legislator. The charges against Mr. Baldwin had already been downgraded after his lawyers noted that one was based on a law that had not been in effect at the time of the shooting. The prosecution had already faced several setbacks before the decision to drop the charges against Mr. Baldwin. The charges had already been downgraded after his lawyers noted that one was based on a law that had not been in effect at the time of the shooting.
A judge in New Mexico had been set to decide next month whether the manslaughter charges could move forward. Mr. Baldwin had previously pleaded not guilty, and a lawyer for Ms. Gutierrez-Reed has said that she intended to do so. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies stepped down from the case last month, appointing two New Mexico lawyers, Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, as special prosecutors. Ms. Morrissey and Mr. Lewis did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Andrea Reeb, the case’s previous special prosecutor, removed herself after Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers argued that her appointment violated the State Constitution because she also serves as a state legislator.
This is a developing article. Mr. Baldwin has said that he was told that the gun he was practicing with did not contain any live ammunition — which is supposed to be barred from film sets — and that he had been following direction as he practiced drawing the gun on set that day.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Mr. Baldwin said in a television interview on ABC less than two months after the shooting. “Someone is ​responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
When her office first announced that it was bringing manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin in January, Ms. Carmack-Altwies said that he had “an absolute duty to know that what is in the gun that is being placed in his hand is safe” — an assertion that was questioned by some actors, armorers, union leaders and others in the film industry.
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing film, television and radio workers, said in a statement at the time that her “contention that an actor has a duty to ensure the functional and mechanical operation of a firearm on a production set is wrong and uninformed” and added that “an actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert.”
The movie’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, who had oversight of safety on the “Rust” set, reached a plea deal with Ms. Carmack-Altwies and Ms. Reeb on a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. Mr. Halls was sentenced to six months of probation.
A judge in New Mexico had been set to decide next month whether the manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Gutierrez-Reed could move forward. Mr. Baldwin had previously pleaded not guilty, and a lawyer for Ms. Gutierrez-Reed has said that she intended to do so.