Actor Alec Baldwin of the ‘Mission Impossible’ fame has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case of a fatal film-set shooting in October 2021. Apart from Baldwin, film Rust’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed was also charged with involuntary manslaughter that had killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
Baldwin was reportedly rehearsing a scene for director Joel Souza’s film ‘Rust’ when the shooting incident took place at a ranch near Sante Fe, New Mexico in October 2021.
The charges would be filed against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed by the end January 2023, Santa Fe’s District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced in a statement.
“Actor and producer Alec Baldwin and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter,” the statement read. “I have determined that there is sufficient evidence.”
“On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice,” she said.
If convicted, both Baldwin and Guitierrez Reed face up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine. They will be tried by a jury, prosecutors said.
After the shooting, Baldwin had said the gun had misfired. He added that he did not pull the trigger on the gun and he was not aware that it was loaded.
“I don’t know what happened on that set. I don’t know how that bullet arrived in that gun. I don’t know,” he said in December 2021.
In October, the 64-year-old actor and the film’s production company reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount with the family of Hutchins, the deceased cinematographer.
It came after the cinematographer’s husband, Matthew, filed a wrongful death lawsuit which claimed violations of industry safety standards.
“All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident,” Hutchins said in a statement at the time. “I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame.”
Film’s production was scheduled to resume this year. It remains unclear if the film’s schedule will be resumed any time soon.
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