“It’s a comfort to the family”: Alec Baldwin Formally Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter, Faces 5 Years of Prison For Killing Rust Cinematographer
A lot has happened since the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Joel Souza’s movie Rust took place. Despite Alec Baldwin’s best efforts, the horrific shooting on the film set in October 2021 still haunted him, and he was still trying to come to terms with it. Unfortunately, according to reports, court papers filed in New Mexico state that the It’s Complicated star has formally been charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting that killed a cinematographer and wounded a director on the set of Rust.
His previous charges included two counts of involuntary manslaughter, including firearm enhancements because a firearm was involved. In this case, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when a prop gun containing live bullets accidentally went off, striking her in the chest and then striking director Joel Souza in the clavicle. Sadly, Hutchins died after being airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque, while director Souza got admitted to a hospital in Santa Fe and released the following day.
Alec Baldwin Formally Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter In Tragic Shooting On Rust Set
On Tuesday, New Mexico’s first judicial, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, formally filed court documents accusing actor Alec Baldwin and the weapons specialist Hannah Gutierrez-Reed of involuntary manslaughter following a fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a Rust movie set on October 21, 2021.
According to documents obtained by the New Mexico station KRQE News, the probable cause statement outlining the evidence against Baldwin alleges many instances,
“On the day of the shooting alone, evidence shows that no less than a dozen acts or omissions of recklessness occurred in the short time prior to lunch and the time of the shooting, and this does not include the reckless handling of the firearm by Baldwin.”
“By act or omission or failure to act in his position as a producer directly contributed and/or failed to mitigate numerous reckless and dangerous actions during a very short time period.”
There are two possible sanctions for the charges: a penalty of up to 18 months in jail and a fine of $5,000 or a mandatory minimum sentence of five years prison term. After nearly two weeks of announcing her plan to prosecute the case surrounding Hutchins’ death on the movie set, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis has filed official charges. According to authorities, the death resulted from a pattern of reckless disregard for safety.
When The Tragic Shooting Happened, Alec Baldwin Was On The Phone
There have been several instances where the District Attorney’s Office in Santa Fe has accused Baldwin of extremely reckless acts during the tragic accident. Per reports, Baldwin was on the phone while training to use prop firearms for a movie when he fatally shot a cinematographer. As part of the statement of probable cause filed with the manslaughter charges, Robert Shilling, a special investigator for the district attorney’s office, wrote that Baldwin became distracted by talking on his mobile phone while learning to operate the prop gun.
Shilling explained that the tragic accident could have been avoided if Baldwin had performed mandatory safety checks on his gun with armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and not pointed it accidentally at the cinematographer and director.
Robert Shilling wrote in his statement,
“This reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol directly caused the fatal shooting.”
“Baldwin knew the first rule of gun safety is never point a gun at someone you don’t intend on shooting.”
Baldwin surrendered his cell phone as part of the investigation into a fatal shooting at the time. A search warrant was issued for Baldwin’s phone to seek text messages, images, videos, phone calls, and other information related to the movie Rust. The charges against Baldwin, according to the detailed documents released on Tuesday, exhibit a chaotic set with reckless gun-handling practices.
Source: KRQE News, The New York Times
