Alec Baldwin Again Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in ‘Rust’ Shooting
Alec Baldwin has once again been indicted on involuntarily manslaughter charges stemming from the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.
Baldwin previously pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in February 2023, but prosecutors in New Mexico ultimately dismissed the charges against the actor in April 2023 before he went to trial.
However, with new prosecutors assigned to the case since the dismissal, a grand jury voted to revive the criminal case against Baldwin. In the indictment obtained by Rolling Stone, the grand jury recommended one of two charges to prosecutors: Involuntary manslaughter due to negligent use of a firearm – which isn’t a felony – or involuntary manslaughter without due caution or circumspect, a fourth degree felony.
In both cases, the grand jury found that Baldwin “did cause the death of Halyna Hutchins.”
“We look forward to our day in court,” Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said in a statement (via the New York Times) Friday. If convicted, Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison.
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed also faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the October 21, 2021, on-set accident where Baldwin shot and killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza while rehearsing a Rust scene; it remains unclear how a “live round” ended up in the firearm. Hutchins’ trial is scheduled to begin February; she has pleaded not guilty to charges.
One person tied to Hutchins’ shooting death has already faced some accountability: Assistant Director Dave Halls. Halls entered a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon at the end of March. He will not face any jail time and will serve six months of unsupervised probation.
After the charges against Baldwin were dropped, Rust went back into production, with the movie wrapping up filming last year.