Alec Baldwin formally charged with involuntary manslaughter over fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins
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Actor Alec Baldwin has been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter over the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
On 21 October, 2022, on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set of Rust in New Mexico, Baldwin accidentally fatally shot Hutchins, 42, and injured the film's director, Joel Souza.
Baldwin said he didn't know there was live ammunition in the gun and the armourer on set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, denied knowing where the live rounds came from.
Today (Tuesday, 31 January) prosecutors filed the felony charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed, as reported by Albuquerque TV station KOAT.
Earlier this month, Santa Fe district attorney Mary Carmavk-Altwies revealed Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed would both be charged with involuntary manslaughter over Hutchin's death.
Hutchin's family released a statement in response to the district attorney's announcement.
Shared via attorney Brian J. Parish, it reads: "It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law."
Baldwin has previously spoken out about the shooting saying he doesn't feel guilty about accidentally killing Hutchins because he does not consider himself 'responsible' for what occurred.
The actor told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America: "I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me."
Baldwin said he didn't pull the trigger on the gun and would 'never point a gun at anyone' which had the trigger already pulled.
Despite this, a lawsuit was filed against Baldwin and the film's producers by Hutchin's family.
The 'reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures' on the film's set 'led to the death of Halyna Hutchins,' the family's attorney, Parish, said.
Members of the crew also spoke out against the 'working conditions', many claiming they weren't being paid enough and were being forced to work extremely long hours.
"Corners were being cut – and they brought in non-union people so they could continue shooting. There was a serious lack of safety meetings on this set," a source said.
After it was announced Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed would be charged with involuntary manslaughter earlier this month, Baldwin's lawyer responded by calling the decision 'a terrible miscarriage of justice'.
Rust's assistant director David Halls has signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon according to the DA's office.
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