SANTA FE, New Mexico — A grand jury indicted Alec Baldwin on Friday on one count of manslaughter in a fatal 2021 shooting during a rehearsal on a movie set in New Mexico, reviving a dormant case against the actor.
Special prosecutors brought the case to a grand jury in Santa Fe this week, months after receiving a new analysis of the gun that was used. They refused to answer questions after spending about a day and a half presenting their case to the grand jury.
Baldwin’s defense attorneys indicated they will fight the charges.
“We look forward to our day in court,” Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, Baldwin’s defense attorneys, said in an email.
While the procedure is shrouded in secrecy, two of the witnesses seen in court included members of the crew: one who was present when the fatal shot was fired and another who had left the set the day before for safety reasons.
Baldwin, lead actor and co-producer of the Western film “Rust,” was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on a film set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her. and hurting the director. Joel Sousa.
Baldwin has said he pulled the hammer, but not the trigger, and fired the gun.
The charges have put Baldwin back in legal trouble and created the possibility of prison for an actor who has been a mainstay of television and film for nearly 40 years, with roles in the early blockbusters “The Hunt.” of Red October”, “The Hunt for Red October”, by Martin Scorsese. Departed” and the comedy “30 Rock.”
Judges recently agreed to stay several civil lawsuits seeking compensation from Baldwin and the producers of “Rust” after prosecutors said they would present charges to a grand jury. Plaintiffs in those lawsuits include members of the film crew.
Special prosecutors dismissed a manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April, saying they were informed the gun may have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. They later pivoted and began weighing the possibility of re-filing charges against Baldwin after receiving a new analysis of the gun.
Analysis by ballistics and forensic testing experts relied on spare parts to reassemble the gun fired by Baldwin, after parts of the gun broke off during testing by the FBI. The report examined the gun and the marks he left on a spent cartridge to conclude that the trigger must have been pulled or depressed.
The analysis led by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona stated that, although Baldwin repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, “given the evidence, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed enough to release the hammer.” fully cocked or retracted. of the evidence revolver.”
The weapons supervisor on the film’s set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in the case. Her trial is scheduled to begin in February.
“Rust” Deputy Director and Safety Coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to unsafe handling of a firearm last March and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the shooting.
An earlier FBI report on the agency’s analysis of the weapon found that, as is common with firearms of that design, it could be fired without pulling the trigger if force was applied to an uncocked hammer, such as by dropping the weapon.
The only way testers could get it to fire was by hitting the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked. The weapon eventually broke during testing.
The 2021 shooting led to a series of civil lawsuits, including wrongful death lawsuits filed by members of Hutchins’ family, centered on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
Rust Movie Productions paid a $100,000 fine to state workplace safety regulators after a scathing narrative of failures to violate industry-standard protocols, including testimony that production managers took action limited or no efforts to address two set failures before the fatal shooting.
Filming on “Rust” resumed last year in Montana, thanks to a deal with the director of photography’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, that made him executive producer.