Alec Baldwin Being Charged With Manslaughter in 'Rust' Shooting

[Graybeard]

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/alec-baldwin-set-shooting-charged/2023/01/19/id/1105095/

Thursday, 19 January 2023 01:52 PM EST

Prosecutors said actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed on a New Mexico movie set.

Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being shot during rehearsals for the film "Rust" at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who led the initial investigation into Hutchins' death, described "a degree of neglect" on the film set. But he left decisions about potential criminal charges to prosecutors after delivering the results of a yearlong investigation in October. That report did not specify how live ammunition ended up on the film set.

Taking control of the investigation, Carmack-Altwies was granted an emergency $300,000 request for the state to pay for a special prosecutor, special investigator and other experts and personnel.

The charges will formally be filed before the end of the month, ABC News reports. At that point, Baldwin will be issued a summons for a first court appearance.

Baldwin — known for his roles in "30 Rock" and "The Hunt for Red October" and his impression of former President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live" — described the killing as a "tragic accident."

He sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun that was handed to him on the set. Baldwin, also a co-producer on "Rust," said he was told the gun was safe.

In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while working on camera angles with Hutchins during rehearsal for a scene, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.

New Mexico's Office of the Medical Investigator determined the shooting was an accident following the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports.

New Mexico's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau has levied the maximum fine against Rust Movie Productions, based on a scathing narrative of safety failures, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires of blank ammunition on the set prior to the fatal shooting.

Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the basis of a $137,000 fine by regulators who say production managers on the set failed to follow standard industry protocols for firearms safety.

The armorer who oversaw firearms on the set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, has been the subject of much of the scrutiny in the case, along with an independent ammunition supplier. An attorney for Gutierrez Reed has said she did not put a live round in the gun that killed Hutchins, and she believes she was the victim of sabotage. Authorities said they have found no evidence of that.

Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition at the movie set on the outskirts of Santa Fe — a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds. Industry experts have said live rounds should never be on set.

In April 2022, the Santa Fe Sheriff's Department released a trove of files, including lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins slipping in and out of consciousness as a medical helicopter arrived. Witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, inventories of ammunition and hundreds of photographs rounded out that collection of evidence.

State workplace safety regulators said that immediate gun-safety concerns were addressed when "Rust" ceased filming, and that a return to filming in New Mexico would be accompanied by new safety inspections.

The family of Hutchins — widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros — settled a lawsuit against producers under an agreement that aims to restart filming with Matthew Hutchin's involvement as executive producer.

"Rust" was beset by disputes from the start in early October 2021. Seven crew members walked off the set just hours before the fatal shooting amid discord over working conditions.

Hutchins' death has influenced negotiations over safety provisions in film crew union contracts with Hollywood producers and spurred other filmmakers to choose computer-generated imagery of gunfire rather than real weapons with blank ammunition to minimize risks.

[Ranger99]

He'll skate

If he'd been a gun rights advocate,
or an America firster, or an advocate
for veterans, or critical of deadbeat
and absentee dads, or something
like that they'd hang him from a lamppost

[Mule 11]

Oh my, I had no idea that a real gun would possibly have real bullets in it. Wasn’t this baldwins baby? I.E. his film and he was the man in charge? Now he’s pleading the, it’s not my fault card because I paid someone else to make sure my dumbass would not be handling a loaded gun. My opinion. If you are handling real weapons, you are responsible at all times. Of course this cowardly turd will skate.

[Ranger99]

Yeah
All his defenders are saying " oh- he didn't have
any gun handling knowledge.  . "  and " oh-  he's
a gun hater, so you can't blame him. . "

I can remember him in "The Edge " with Anthony
Hopkins,  and he handled the old 1883 Winchester
like he'd been using one since childhood, so lack
of knowledge is a very invalid excuse. Not to mention
in the storyline the character had found the
gun, and as a career photographer it's unlikely that
that person would be able to load and cycle that
rifle as effectively as the actor did in the scene.
AFAIK,  the SOP for handgun shooting in making a
movie is to aim slightly to the off side. The camera
angle can't pick up that the muzzle isn't exactly
dead on. You have to nitpick it to tell

Yeah, he's just an irresponsible a hole playing
the victim role

[gene_225]

Afraid you are right. As we all know, every firearm is loaded. AND even imitation firearms are dangerous. But if you are anti gun, you have a get out of jail free card.

[ironglow]

  He may decide to become a woman..so some lefty on the jury can spring him..claiming it was a male who shot that actress..not this woman.  Whatever a woman is..

[gypsyman]

I'm surprised the moron isn't suing the gun company for making a gun that(gasp), shoots bullets. Hypocrite's like him usually try and pass the blame onto somebody else. Never their fault, the other guy screwed up.

[DDZ]

He has money and is part of the Hollywood cult, he will get off lightly.

[GTS225]

And his character of Jack Ryan, in "Hunt for Red October", where in the missile room on the sub, he DID display good weapons handling.
To claim now that he's not firearms savvy, is an outright lie.

Roger

Yeah
All his defenders are saying " oh- he didn't have
any gun handling knowledge.  . "  and " oh-  he's
a gun hater, so you can't blame him. . "

I can remember him in "The Edge " with Anthony
Hopkins,  and he handled the old 1883 Winchester
like he'd been using one since childhood, so lack
of knowledge is a very invalid excuse. Not to mention
in the storyline the character had found the
gun, and as a career photographer it's unlikely that
that person would be able to load and cycle that
rifle as effectively as the actor did in the scene.
AFAIK,  the SOP for handgun shooting in making a
movie is to aim slightly to the off side. The camera
angle can't pick up that the muzzle isn't exactly
dead on. You have to nitpick it to tell

Yeah, he's just an irresponsible a hole playing
the victim role

[Dee]

Baldwin isn't alone on the anti 2nd amendment issue. He's just the loudest, and most obnoxious.
Remember that recent western series "1883"?

Lots of guns, lots of violence involving guns with actors, and country music stars turned actor.

Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, and his wife Faith Hill. All 3 anti gun. ESPECIALLY AR15s.

[DDZ]

Baldwin isn't alone on the anti 2nd amendment issue. He's just the loudest, and most obnoxious.
Remember that recent western series "1883"?

Lots of guns, lots of violence involving guns with actors, and country music stars turned actor.

Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, and his wife Faith Hill. All 3 anti gun. ESPECIALLY AR15s.

Yes I thought the same thing when watching that series.   McGraw said he is a hunter, but says we need common sense gun laws. Gee where have we heard that before?  Him and his wife are just another couple of ignorant Americans that somehow think their opinion matters more than anyone elses.
And here is a clip of Biden ass kisser Elliot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Xufahbaq4

[ironglow]

Baldwin's "armorer"..is just as much at fault, if not more so.  One wpould have to expect that one who claims to be an armorer, should have more qualifications that being an "former model"..

  How do they select a qualified armorer around Holly-weird anyway?

   Check this article out: 
   
   https://nypost.com/2021/10/25/rookie-armorer-on-baldwin-set-said-she-loves-to-show-how-safe-guns-are/

   Her statements; .......She also admitted that “loading blanks” is the “scariest thing to me”

  So, why was loading blanks so scary?  She goes on to explain...

    “You have to like look at the front of it and determine which one is the blank, if it’s dummied up. That’s how I tell, at least,” she said.

  With brilliance like that, what in... %+*#& ... do they expect?

   If those brilliant celebrities had chosen a qualified armorer from the Army, Marines or police..chances are this tragedy would never have happened.

    Why he chose a cute little 'former model' to be on the set, I do not know... but I think I can guess..

[oldandslow]

Considering the love the NM government has for the movie and TV industry I thought this would just eventually disappear. The industries love NM and the government loves them so much they rebate most of their expenses right back to them. The no body armorer will most like be convicted and MIGHT serve some time. Baldwin will probably hire a good lawyer and skate or at the most wind up with a suspended sentence. IN NM money speaks loudly not that I would go so far as to accuse anyone of corruption. 

[ironglow]

   The prop boss on the set had this to  say about the "armorer"..

  "I'm surprised that any of this happened under her watch,” Jeffrey Crow told the Los Angeles Times.

“I thought she was an exceptionally young, up-and-coming, very eager and talented armorer.

“She was without a lot of experience, but coming from her family lineage, I thought she was exceptional, professional, and I thought she had — I still think she has — many years of an amazing career ahead of her,” Crow said.
   Seems like that set had enough dumbness to go around..in the above statement the prop boss seems to say she is
  a "very eager and talented armorer".
   Then  the very next sentence says "she was without a lot of experience".

  Yes; plenty to go around..

     

[guzzijohn]

Being the daughter of Thell Reed you would think that she had more experience and knowledge than average for her age. She was not called to the set before the incident. My guess is that she was intimidated by Baldwin to cut corners and/or she did not speak up when she should have, not lack of knowledge or procedures.
My 2.5 cents worth.

[phalanx]

The Edge, is a good movie. The name of the trained Bear is Bart. He is a better Actor than Baldwin ever thought about being.
So is Yogi the Bear. 

[oldandslow]

Well, depending on which manslaughter charge is picked for each the sentence is five years for one, 18 months for the other. or so I read on the news services. A human life seems worth not much to very little in NM  Some are defending Baldwin saying it's not his fault for pointing a gun directly at a human and firing it. He claimed it went off by it's self until FBI tests proved it didn't. Even if convicted I doubt either will serve a day and I'm not putting down any money betting on conviction. Southern NM it might happen, northern, who knows. They are basically different worlds.

[ironglow]

  Don't be surprised if he ends up just wearing an ankle hugger for a month..

[oldandslow]

There won't even be a grand jury involved in either case. A judge will determine if either has to face trial and they don't have appear in court, it will be done online. You or I would have been arrested and be sitting in a jail cell unless bonded out.

[nw_hunter]

Time will tell! Sounds like a clear case of involuntary manslaughter.
Why do they even use real firearms in movies today. With the advanced technology in today's movie making, is it necessary?

[Casull]

Come on, you guys should get behind Baldwin.  Just don't stand in front of him.

[GTS225]

Come on, you guys should get behind Baldwin.  Just don't stand in front of him.

 

Roger

[ironglow]

  Any offical verdict out on this bundle of clowns ?   ..And was the so-called "armorer" charged?

[oldandslow]

They haven't even faced a judge yet and even that will be by video conference. Gives new meaning to being treated with kid gloves.

[ironglow]

They haven't even faced a judge yet and even that will be by video conference. Gives new meaning to being treated with kid gloves.

   Thanks O&S..  I guess that tells us about how it will go...different levels of 'justice'..