By Miguel Almaguer, Diana Dasrath and David K. Li -
NBC News
SANTA FE, NM — The prosecutor's office handling the shooting during the filming of the movie
Rust
in New Mexico, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, acknowledged Thursday that it knew "almost from the beginning" of its investigation. that he would file criminal charges against actor Alec Baldwin and other people on the team.
First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and Special Counsel Andrea Reeb are confident that Baldwin and “Rust” outfitter Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will be convicted for their alleged involvement in Hutchins' Oct. 21 death. of 2021.
Alec Baldwin in a still from the film 'Rust,' during which he accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021.Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office via NBC News
“We felt very confident that it was going to be a criminal case almost from the beginning, once we started looking at everything,” Reeb explained.
“I am convinced that he trusted that he would not be charged.
But he is not above the law and he is someone who committed a crime, and we are going to make him comply with the law, make him accountable, ”she said about the actor.
Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed were charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter.
The first deputy director, David Halls, "has entered into a plea agreement on the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon," which will likely earn him six months probation, prosecutors said. He has also agreed to testify on behalf of the state. , according to the authorities.
Baldwin was criminally responsible for the events both for being the person who activated the weapon and for being the producer of
Rust
, which forced him to supervise the security of the filming, authorities alleged.
Alec Baldwin's lawyer believes criminal indictment 'distorts tragic death' of Hutchins
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“It's a bit of both.
He is a producer.
He is on that set and has seen everything that happens, ”Reeb argued.
“The shooting misses on the set, the way the gun was handed to him, he has experience.
He understands what the proper protocol is for security, and he was just ignoring that," he noted.
The Prosecutor's Office has also refuted Baldwin's claim that he did not fire the bullet that killed Hutchins, as the actor revealed in December 2021 during an interview with ABC News journalist George Stephanopoulos.
"That's not true, and we know that from the FBI lab report," said Carmack-Altwies, the district attorney.
“That gun would not have been fired without the trigger being pulled,” she added.
Baldwin might simply not remember opening fire, he said.
"It's possible that he didn't know he pulled the trigger, that it was kind of an unconscious decision," Carmack-Altwies explained. "But we have videos of him where his hand was on the trigger, and we know from the FBI report that he pulled the trigger." the trigger," he said.
Baldwin's defense attorney, Luke Nikas, called the actor's prosecution "a terrible judicial error," while Gutierrez-Reed's attorney called Hutchins' death "a tragic accident."
Actor Alec Baldwin is pictured shortly after accidentally shooting the cinematographer for the film 'Rust' in New Mexico on Oct. 21, 2021.Jim Weber/The New Mexican via NBC News
Prosecutors said the acts leading up to the October 21, 2021 shooting on that day could be both an accident and a crime.
“Just because something is an accident doesn't mean it's not criminal, and that's what we have here in this case,” Carmack-Altwies said.
“Because an accident that is not criminal is something that simply happens due to an act of God.
But this was more than mere negligence”, in his opinion.
“These are people who act recklessly, people who don't do their jobs, people who don't follow safety protocols, who don't follow safety rules and who violate all the rules that we all have to follow if we have a gun in our hands. ”, he continued.
The actors' union SAG-AFTRA, which represents some 160,000 people in show business, opposed the accusations.
“The death of Halyna Hutchins is a tragedy, all the more so for its preventable nature.
This is not a breach of duty or a criminal act on the part of any artist,” the organization said in a statement on Thursday.
A film set at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. Jae C. Hong / AP
“The prosecutor's assertion that an actor has a duty to ensure the functional and mechanical operation of a firearm on a production set is erroneous and uninformed.
An actor's job is not to be a firearms expert.
Firearms are made available for use under the direction of multiple skilled professionals directly responsible for the safe and accurate operation of that firearm,” she noted.
“In addition, the employer is always responsible for providing a safe working environment at all times, including hiring and supervising the work of trained weapons professionals.”
Prosecutors have admitted they may never get to the bottom of key questions about the 2021 tragedy, including: Who brought live ammunition to the set of
Rust
?
And how did those bullets get into the gun that was issued to Baldwin?
"Unfortunately, that may be a question we're never going to be able to answer," Reeb acknowledged.
“We are focused on the question that they did enter the set and that nobody noticed it.
None of these three individuals noticed.”