By Morgan Lee -
The Associated Press
Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting that claimed the life of a cinematographer during a rehearsal on the set of a Western movie in New Mexico.
Court documents filed Wednesday show Baldwin pleaded not guilty in Santa Fe District Court, waiving a video hearing that was scheduled for the next day.
Baldwin, lead actor and co-producer of the Western film
Rust
, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and leaving her dead. director Joel Souza injured.
Actor Alec Baldwin, in New York, on December 6, 2022.Getty Images
A Santa Fe grand jury indicted Baldwin in January after prosecutors received new analysis of the gun, leading them to renew an initial indictment that they later dismissed in April 2023. Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison. of prison if found guilty.
Baldwin remains free pending trial under conditions that include not possessing firearms, consuming alcohol or leaving the country.
Baldwin may have limited contact with witnesses when it comes to promoting
Rust
, which has not been released.
She is also prohibited from asking members of the Rust
cast or crew
to participate in a documentary related to the film.
Baldwin has said
he pulled back on the hammer – but did not pull the trigger –
and the gun discharged.
"Halyna and I had something profound in common, which is that we both assumed the gun was empty [...] apart from [that it had] bullets that weren't real," Baldwin told George Stephanopoulos in an interview aired in December 2021 on ABC News.
The grand jury indictment offers special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis two alternative criteria for bringing the felony charge against Baldwin.
One would be based on negligent use of a firearm.
A second alternative for prosecutors is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin caused Hutchins' death without due caution, or "prudence," also defined as "an act committed with complete disregard or indifference to the safety of others." .
An analysis of the gun by Lucien and Michael Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona concluded that "
the trigger had to be pulled or depressed
enough to release the fully retracted hammer from the revolver."
An earlier FBI report on the agency's analysis of the revolver found that, as is typical for firearms of that design, it could be fired without pulling the trigger if force was applied to the hammer even if it was not in the cocking position. shot, for example, by dropping the gun.
The weapon ended up breaking during testing.
Morrissey and Lewis dismissed the earlier allegation after being informed that the gun may have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned.
The grand jury heard from a member of Rust
's crew
who was just feet from where the incident occurred, and another who left the scene before the shooting in protest of working conditions.
Also testifying was forensic weapons expert Michael Haag, a Mississippi-based film weapons specialist and Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detective.
Rust
's weapons supervisor
, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, and a jury trial is scheduled to begin on February 22.
She has pleaded not guilty to that charge and a second count of tampering with evidence in Hutchins' death.
Gutierrez-Reed was also
accused of bringing a gun to a
downtown Santa Fe bar days before she was hired to work as a weapons teacher at Rust.
She has also pleaded not guilty to that charge.
Hutchins' death led to a series of civil lawsuits, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins' family, which centered on accusations that Baldwin and the producers of
Rust
were lax with safety standards
.
Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
Rust
Deputy Director and Safety Coordinator
David Halls pleaded not guilty to unsafe handling of a firearm last March and was sentenced to six months' probation.
He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the incident.