Alec Baldwin to be arraigned after star charged again over Halyna Hutchins death on Rust set
Alec Baldwin will be arraigned on Thursday after he was again charged with involuntary manslaughter over the shooting of a cinematographer.
Halyna Hutchins died in October 2021 when the star shot her during an on-set rehearsal for Western movie Rust.
The movie’s director, Joel Souza, was wounded in the shoulder by the same bullet.
The 65-year-old actor has insisted he pulled back the hammer but didn’t pull the trigger.
All charges were dropped last year based on evidence the hammer might have been modified, allowing it to be shot without pressing the trigger.
However, a new examination cast doubt on this theory.
Forensic tests said Baldwin would have needed to pull the trigger to fire the live round, matching a previous FBI test, and fresh charges were filed last week.
The actor responded by demanding a “speedy trial” and his lawyers said they “look forward to our day in court”.
Hutchins died during a rehearsal on set. Pic: Rex Features
The arraignment – the formal reading of charges with the defendant present – will be held virtually, said a spokesman for New Mexico’s court system.
Rust’s chief weapons supervisor, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering, with her trial scheduled for February.
There have been claims that safety standards on set were lax, though Baldwin and other defendants have disputed it.
Baldwin was back filming the movie last year after the charge was dropped
According to a police report, assistant director David Halls, who handed the gun to Baldwin, told him it was “cold” – meaning it did not contain live ammunition or blank rounds.
Halls said he was unaware it was loaded and last year did a plea deal for a six-month suspended sentence, a $500 fine, 24 hours’ community safety and a gun safety class.
Filming resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the main character – after an agreement with Hutchins’ widower made him an executive producer.
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Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
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Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
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In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
R Kelly’s challenge against a 20-year sentence for child sex convictions has been quashed by an appeals court.
The singer was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison, a Chicago court ruled on Friday.
He was convicted in 2022 on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
In his appeal, Kelly, 57, argued Illinois’ old statute of limitations – which required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have applied, rather than the current law permitting charges while an accuser is still alive.
The appeals court rejected this, labelling it an attempt by Kelly to elude the charges entirely after “employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet”.
He also argued that charges involving one accuser should have been tried separately from the charges tied to three other accusers due to video evidence that became a focal point of the Chicago trial.
Prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser, only identified as Jane, testified for the first time that she was 14 when the video was taken.
The three-judge panel from the appeals court noted jurors acquitted Kelly on seven of the 13 counts against him “even after viewing those abhorrent tapes”.
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In a written statement, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said they plan to seek a US Supreme Court review of the decision and “pursue all of his appellate remedies until we free R Kelly”.
“We are disappointed in the ruling, but our fight is far from over,” she said.
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