OAN's Brooke Mallory
12:55 PM – Thursday, January 18, 2024
In an attempt to re-indict Alec Baldwin for the on-set murder of cinematographer Halina Hutchins, the actor has been charged with manslaughter.
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Baldwin, 65, was first charged in the case in January 2023. However, the charges were dropped three months later after Baldwin's defense team raised concerns about the accuracy of his colt. 45 discharges.
The pistol went off in October 2021 as Hutchins prepared to film a scene with Baldwin at a ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin has consistently maintained that he was not the one who pulled the trigger.
Baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
“We look forward to our day in court,” Baldwin's attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement Friday.
The pistol was then submitted for a more thorough forensic examination by special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis last summer.
After reconstructing the gun, which was damaged during an FBI examination, its experts, Lucian and Michael Hague, concluded that the gun could have only been fired by pulling the trigger, and not by accidental firing as Baldwin had claimed. I came to this conclusion.
“This fatal accident was the result of the hammer being manually retracted fully rearward and the trigger pulled or pushed rearward to the cocked position,” the report concluded. “Alec Baldwin has repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, but given the experiments, findings, and observations reported here, it is unlikely that the hammer of a fully cocked or retracted evidential revolver would have been released.” I had to pull or push the trigger hard enough.”
Morrissey and Lewis said in October that they planned to refer the case to a grand jury within two months, claiming that “additional facts” had emerged implicating Baldwin.
Nikas called the ruling “disappointing” at the time.
“It is unfortunate that this terrible tragedy was caused by this wrongful prosecution,” Nikas said. “I intend to answer all charges in court.”
February 21stcentHannah Gutierrez-Reed, an armorer who worked on the film set, will also stand trial on charges of manslaughter and tampering with evidence.
Baldwin's gun was supposed to be loaded with only dummy bullets, but Gutierrez-Reed accidentally put a live bullet in the gun. How the live ammunition was mixed with fake ammunition in the set remains a mystery.
Immediately after the incident, Hutchins' widow, Matthew Hutchins, filed a wrongful death lawsuit, but the case was settled in October 2022. The couple's son, who was nine years old at the time of his mother's death, was supposed to receive the following benefits: The settlement included insurance proceeds and a portion of the film's proceeds.
Matthew Hutchins said that at the time of the settlement, Baldwin was not directly responsible for the shooting.
“I'm not interested in pointing fingers or attributing responsibility to (producers or Mr. Baldwin),” Hutchins said. “We all believe that Ms. Halina's death was a terrible accident. We are grateful that the producers and entertainment community came together to honor Halina's final work.”
Baldwin was fully indicted by first prosecutors Mary Carmack-Altwis and Andrea Reeve, both for pulling the trigger and for a series of administrative errors that led to inadequate safety regulations on set. Condemned.
However, the New Mexico Division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded that although Baldwin served as a producer on the film, he lacked managerial responsibility and therefore was not responsible for directing it.
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