Alec Baldwin speaks after the shooting on October 21, 2021. Jim Weber (AP)
The Santa Fe prosecutor's office in New Mexico has announced that it will charge Alec Baldwin with reckless homicide for the tragedy on the set of
Rust
.
A bullet, fired from a Colt model 45 revolver held by Baldwin and supposed to have blank ammunition in it, accidentally killed Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer, in October 2021.
The bullet also wounded the western's director, Joel Souza.
More than a year later, authorities are finalizing the details of the prosecution in the case that rocked Hollywood.
The prosecution will also file the same criminal charges against the production's armory manager, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who will face the same charges as the film's star and producer.
More information
Alec Baldwin reaches an agreement with the family of the filmmaker whom he accidentally killed
Mary Carmack-Altwies, the Santa Fe County prosecutor, announced last September her intention to take the process to criminal courts.
She then asked the local government and the legislature to double the budget of her office to be able to carry out "four separate trials".
Carmack-Altwies asked for hundreds of thousands of dollars and appointed a special prosecutor for the prosecution, Andrea Reeb.
Both sign this Thursday the document that confirms the criminal action against the filmmakers.
The Santa Fe sheriff's office was in charge of carrying out the investigations related to the fatal incident, which occurred inside an old church located on the Bonanza Creek ranch while Baldwin, 64, rehearsed how he drew the weapon.
Facing him was Hutchins, 42, who was holding the camera.
The photographer fell to the ground and began to bleed.
The bullet that hit her also entered the shoulder of the director, who was behind the cinematograph.
The recording team requested the emergency services.
Hutchins died in the airlift to the hospital.
A tragedy that could have been avoided
The document delivered by the investigators to the Prosecutor's Office concludes that the tragedy was an accident that could have been avoided if the process of custody of the weapon had been taken care of.
The police found at the shooting site boxes where real bullets were mixed with blank rounds.
This consisted of a serious violation of industry protocols that prohibit the presence of live ammunition on filming.
Therefore, the agents focused on a handful of characters from the production, which began filming at the Santa Fe property on October 6, 2021.
The main suspects in the investigation are assistant director David Halls, who was the last of the production to touch the gun before handing it over to Baldwin and who, according to
The Wall Street Journal,
will plead guilty to negligent use. of a firearm;
and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the inexperienced person in charge of the armory during filming, and who has been identified by the experts for her failures in the review protocols.
Photo of the shooting of 'Rust', with the head of electrical Serge Svetnoy and the director of photography Halyna Hutchins.HANDOUT (AFP)
In addition, Seth Kenny, the owner of an Albuquerque gun store who served as a supplier of the ammunition, and Sarah Zachary, the person in charge of the props used in the filming, had been pointed out.
Both, however, have been left out of the accusation formulated by the local prosecutor's office.
The members of the production tried to dilute their responsibility for the events that occurred on October 21.
Alec Baldwin said in his first interview after the incident that he never pulled the trigger and just pulled the hammer from the mechanism.
However, an FBI investigation confirmed the opposite and determined that the revolver did go off: this caused the detonation.
Alec Baldwin, last September in a match at the United States Tennis Open in Flushing Meadows (New York). JASON SZENES (EFE)
In the nearly 15 months since the incident, several lawsuits have been filed.
Hutchins' family sued Baldwin for wrongful death, but the actor reached an agreement with his widower, Matthew Hutchins, so that he would drop the lawsuit against him.
In return, Baldwin named Hutchins executive producer of
Rust
, with which he will receive an undisclosed share of the profits once filming on the western resumes.
There is still no exact date for
Rust
to resume production.
The film tells the story of a 13-year-old boy in late 19th century Kansas who accidentally kills a rancher.
The boy's grandfather, Harland Rust (Baldwin), helps him escape from prison and flee through New Mexico, where he is wanted by authorities and other bounty hunters.