Prosecutors say it is industry standards for actors to check that firearms they are using are safe to handle and to never point them at anyone.
TAOS, New Mexico – American actor Alec Baldwin faces involuntary manslaughter charges carrying prison time in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the 2021 filming of WesternSanta Fe’s top prosecutor, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, said on Thursday, January 19 that the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, would also be charged with involuntary manslaughter. She said charges would be filed by the end of this month.
According to a police report, David Halls, the assistant director who handed the gun to Baldwin, told the actor it was “cold,” an industry term meaning it did not contain blank rounds. Halls signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, Carmack-Altwies said in her statement. Gutierrez-Reed had handled the gun before Halls.
“It’s a very aggressive charging decision, and the defense has a strong case,” said personal injury attorney and former prosecutor Neama Rahmani, who was not involved in theBaldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be charged “in the alternative” with two counts of manslaughter, meaning a jury will decide not only if they were guilty, but under which definition of involuntary manslaughter, the prosecutor said.
An FBI forensic test of the revolver found it “functioned normally” and would not fire without the trigger being pulled. The guide reminds actors that blank ammunition can kill and live ammunition is never to be brought onto a film set.RustBrian Panish, a lawyer representing the Hutchins family, said his own investigation found charges were warranted.actor had a responsibility to check that the gun did not contain blank rounds, to not cock the weapon and to not point it at Hutchins and pull the trigger.Rust.
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