Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin has been formally charged in New Mexico with involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the western film Rust.
Baldwin has vowed to fight the two counts against him, with his lawyer calling the case a “terrible miscarriage of justice”.
A live round killed Halyna Hutchins, 42,after a prop gun held by the 64-year-old star was discharged during rehearsals for the movie in October 2021.
The charges – which could see Baldwin sent to jail for up to five years – would require prosecutors to convince a jury that Baldwin was not just negligent but reckless in his use of a firearm.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for weapons on the Rust set, has also been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Legal experts have said prosecutors will struggle to win convictions without proof Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed knew live ammunition was present but took no precautions.
In a statement of probable cause of Hutchins’s death, the Santa Fe District Attorney listed several problems with Baldwin’s conduct.
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They said:
Baldwin was not present for required firearms training
After failing to show up to this training, he received a 30-minute on-set training during which he was distracted talking to his family on the phone
He exhibited “reckless behaviour” in the lead up to Hutchins’s death
He had pointed the firearm at Hutchins in the lead up to the incident violating gun safety rules
Baldwin had not performed the required safety checks with Gutierrez-Reed
He broke protocol by letting Gutierrez-Reed leave the church set
He did not deal with safety complaints on set
He did not use a replica firearm for the unscheduled rehearsal
He allowed the hiring of Gutierrez-Reed, who had worked on just one production before the movie, which showed he “failed to demand the minimum safety standards, protocols, and requirements on set”
The District Attorney also said that on the day of the shooting, there were “no less than a dozen acts, or omissions of recklessness” on the set before the incident, not including the actor’s handling of the gun.
“Baldwin’s deviation from known standards, practice and protocol directly caused the fatal death of Hutchins,” the District Attorney said.
Both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be required to appear in court – in person or virtually – within 30 days.
The District Attorney and special prosecutor will then present their case to the judge, who will rule whether there is probable cause to move forward with a trial.
Hutchins’s family welcomed the charges when they were announced earlier in January, saying Baldwin showed “conscious disregard for human life”.
Rust assistant director Dave Halls is facing negligent use of a deadly weapon charges. He has pleaded no contest and has entered into a plea agreement that is pending approval.
Industry-wide firearms safety guidelines instruct actors to assume a firearm is loaded with blanks and rely on professional weapons handlers to ensure a weapon is safe.
Actors are told to only point a weapon at a person under the guidance of firearms professionals. Live ammunition is strictly forbidden on sets.
Gutierrez-Reed said she checked the rounds she loaded in the revolver were dummies before handing it to Halls.
Halls handed it to Baldwin, telling him it was a “cold gun” or unloaded, according to police.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, said: “Hannah pleaded to provide more firearms training. She was denied and brushed aside.”
He added: “We will fight these charges and expect that a jury will find Hannah not guilty.”
The decision on charges was made about three months after prosecutors received the final report on the shooting from the Santa Fe sheriff’s office, following a lengthy investigation also involving the FBI.
The sheriff’s office investigation has yet to reveal how live ammunition got onto the set.
US actor Terry Carter, who starred in 1970s TV shows including Battlestar Galactica and McCloud, has died at the age of 95.
Carter “died peacefully” at his New York home on Tuesday, it was announced on his official website.
He was best known for his roles as Colonel Tigh in the original Battlestar Galactica series and Sergeant Joe Broadhurst on McCloud.
During his decades-long career he was seen to break down barriers, including in 1956 becoming one of the first black actors to become a TV sitcom regular, playing Private Sugarman on The Phil Silvers Show.
His first major Hollywood role was playing Detective Max Jaffie in 1970 hit Company Of Killers, before his portrayal of Sergeant Joe Broadhurst in the US police drama series McCloud which ran from 1970 to 1977.
Arguably his most well-known role came for starring as Colonel Tigh, second-in-command of the starship fleet in original science-fiction series Battlestar Galactica in 1978.
The series came off the back of the success of Star Wars in 1977.
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In 1989, he was nominated for an Emmy award for producing and directing a TV musical documentary titled A Duke Named Ellington about the life and work of the pianist, composer, and jazz star.
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His other credits including starring in Foxy Brown and Benji; creating a documentary about African-American anthropologist, dancer, and choreographer Katherine Dunham; and becoming a TV anchor newscaster for WBZ-TV Eyewitness News in Boston in 1965.
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He also appeared in three Broadway productions, with his debut in Mrs Patterson, as well as the revival of the musical Finian’s Rainbow, and his final appearance was in the musical Kwamina, opposite British star Sally Ann Howes.
Carter is survived by his wife Etaferhu Zenebe-DeCoste, his two children Miguel and Melinda and Mrs Zenebe-DeCoste’s daughter.
Chris Columbus – the man behind Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire and two Harry Potter movies – is set to write and direct the film, which is being produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.
The movie is based on Osman’s debut novel of the same name which follows a group of friends in a retirement home who solve cold cases for fun, but become entangled in a real murder.
It is set in a retirement home Cooper’s Chase, in the fictitious village of Fairhaven in Kent.
Osman said the production will take place from “the end of June to September” in the UK.
The fourth main character, a retired nurse called Joyce Meadowcroft, has not yet been confirmed.
Osman hinted at the casting, saying: “Joyce, we’re still in negotiations but again the name is the one that people most shout at me in the street”.
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He teased: “Lots more casting to come in the following weeks.”
An adaptation of the novel was first confirmed in 2020 after Amblin Partners secured rights in a competitive auction.
The fastest-selling adult crime debut, Osman has since written three more books in the series, with a fifth due out next year.
Before becoming a well-known face on quiz shows including Pointless and Richard Osman’s House Of Games, the quiz master and author worked as a TV entertainment executive, producing shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Deal Or No Deal and Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Ryan Reynolds appears to have confirmed that Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer is in his next film, Deadpool 3.
The Hollywood star, an owner of the Welsh football club,shared the trailer on social media, writing: “Found the guy who killed Bambi’s mom”.
An eagle-eyed Wrexham fan, who calls himself Beardy on Twitter, quickly noticed a man wearing a denim jacket in the background of one of the scenes, identifying him as “one Ollie Palmer”.
A podcast dedicated to the football club, Fearless In Devotion, backed up his claim, sharing the still from the trailer along with a screenshot of Palmer, 32, commenting on Reynold’s post: “If you squint…”
Reynolds, 47, commented on the podcast’s post: “Keen eyesight”.
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The podcast team went on to say they had verified the claim, saying in another comment on the post: “I’ve asked him. He’s confirmed it is him”.
The new Marvel film – which will be out in the UK on 26 July – brings Deadpool and Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman) together to defeat a common enemy.
Palmer appears to make his brief background appearance in the first scene of the trailer, in which Deadpool walks over to Wolverine at a bar.
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He’s wearing a white shirt, jeans and denim jacket, and has dark hair and a bushy dark beard.
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Palmer joined Wrexham from AFC Wimbledon in January 2022, a year after Reynolds and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia co-creator Rob McElhenney, 46, took over the club.
Since then, the Welsh football club has secured two successive promotions, which along with the popular Welcome To Wrexham docuseries, has propelled it into the global spotlight.
In 2022, Reynolds and McElhenney were honoured by the Welsh government, the Football Association of Wales and S4C for promoting the country and its language with the Dragon Award.
They’ve also met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the King and Queen and the Prince of Wales.
Sky News has contacted Palmer’s representative for comment.