Twist in the investigation regarding the shooting on the set of the film 'Rust' in 2021: the famous actor Alec Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury in New Mexico on two counts of manslaughter, for the death of the film director Halyna Hutchins.
Director Joel Souza was also injured in the accident.
If found guilty, the 'Thirty Rock' star faces between 18 months and five years behind bars.
"We look forward to our day in court," commented Baldwin's lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, who have always insisted on the thesis that the actor is not guilty.
Similar accusations had been dropped almost a year ago but then new elements emerged which restarted the proceedings by entrusting the verdict to a popular jury.
The actor was rehearsing a scene on the set of Rust at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe when a shot went off from the gun he was holding and which should not have contained live bullets, wounding Souza in the shoulder and, ricocheting , killed Hutchins.
Prosecutors decided to reopen the case after having the gun subjected to further analysis whose results, they say, would contradict Baldwin's version, which states that he did not press his finger on the trigger.
"The tests concluded with certainty that the shot could not be fired without the trigger being pulled," prosecutor Kari Morrissey said.
The film's gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, whose job was to supervise the safety of weapons and ammunition, remains indicted.
Also charged with involuntary manslaughter, she has pleaded not guilty.
Signed by Lucien Haag, the report on which the prosecutor's new decision is based does not directly address whether the gun, a Pietta replica of an 1873 revolver, had been modified.
He states, however, that it required less than a kilo of pressure on the trigger to fire the shot, much less than a modern pistol but not unusual for a vintage weapon.
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