Alec Baldwin indicted on involuntary manslaughter over Rust shooting death
Alec Baldwin has been indicted on involuntary manslaughter for the second time after the death of a producer on the set of Rust.
The Grand Jury indictment was filed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, today over the death of Halyna Hutchins, who died after a prop gun, held by Baldwin, went off on set in October 2021.
New forensic tests have concluded Baldwin would have had to pull the trigger to fire the live round – a finding matched by a previous FBI test – but he has said he only pulled back the hammer.
Responding to the indictment, the actor’s lawyers said “we look forward to our day in court”.
All criminal charges were dropped in April last year, based on evidence the hammer might been modified, allowing it to fire without the trigger being pulled.
They later began considering whether to refile a charge in light of the new analysis, which relied on replacement parts to reassemble the pistol after it was broken during FBI testing.
The new report states: “Given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.”
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
The earlier FBI analysis found – as is common with this type of firearm – the gun could go off without pulling the trigger if force were applied to an uncocked hammer.
This could be done by dropping the weapon, for example.
The only way analysts could get it to fire was by striking the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked.
The gun eventually broke during testing.
‘Always sought truth’
There have been a series of civil lawsuits since the shooting, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Mrs Hutchins’s family.
These claims centre on accusations the defendants were lax with safety standards – though Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
Alec Baldwin is seen talking to investigators on the Rust film set following the 2021 shooting. Pic: AP/Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office
Gloria Allred, a lawyer for Mrs Hutchins’s family and script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, said her clients have “always sought the truth”.
“They continue to seek the truth in our civil lawsuit for them and they also would like there to be accountability in the criminal justice system,” she said.
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“We are looking forward to the criminal trial, which will determine if he should be convicted for the untimely death of Halyna.”
The movie set’s weapons supervisor, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the case, with her trial scheduled to begin in February.
Filming resumed last year in Montana after an agreement with the cinematographer’s widower Matthew Hutchins made him an executive producer.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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