Alec Baldwin Indicted For Involuntary Manslaughter, Headed to Jury Trial
A grand jury in New Mexico holds the actor responsible for pointing a loaded gun, pulling back the hammer and then the trigger and killing his cinematographer
Alec Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury on Friday for involuntary manslaughter for shooting and killing his cinematographer on the “Rust” movie set. Baldwin faces up to 18 months in jail.
As I predicted several months ago, this puts Baldwin on the path to a trial by a jury of his peers in New Mexico— and I want to cover it.
Click here to read all my reporting about this case since Oct. 2021. When the trial date is announced, I will ask free subscribers to convert to paid to cover my travel expenses.
Baldwin faces criminal charges for pointing a loaded gun at Halyna Hutchins and then pulling back the hammer and then the trigger. Baldwin then walked out of the room while Hutchins bled out on the floor of the church movie set.
There are two felony charges in the indictment, below. The more serious one accuses him of causing Hutchins's death by an act with “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.” The other charge is for causing her death by the negligent use of a firearm.
According to the AP, the grand jury was convened this week and the special prosecutors presented the case against Baldwin for a day and a half.
The actor denied pulling the trigger to the sheriff and the media. However, an FBI forensics analysis and an independent firearms report both proved him wrong.
This is the second time Baldwin has been criminally charged for the shooting. The local district attorney charged him exactly a year ago with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
But special prosecutors— Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis— then dropped the charges in the spring over Baldwin’s lawyers’ false claim that the trigger had malfunctioned.
Baldwin’s lawyer Luke Nikas did not respond to my request for comment, but he told the AP, “We look forward to our day in court.”
I asked the special prosecutors who convened the grand jury for comment but did not get a response. I also asked the movie’s armorer’s lawyer for comment, but he declined to comment immediately.
The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is facing a trial in February for involuntary manslaughter even though she did not give Baldwin the gun. Reed has been the scapegoat for Baldwin, in my opinion, and this decision by the grand jury brings some fairness to the case.
Meanwhile, Baldwin must have been anticipating this coming and needing more legal fees paid…