Alec Baldwin to be charged in fatal ‘Rust’ shooting | CNN (2024)

Buildings at the Bonanza Creek Ranch film set, seen on October 28, 2021.

As a prosecutor pursues involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin and the armorer from the set of the film “Rust,” the tragic on-set shooting has renewed discussions about safety in Hollywood productions.

The death of 42-year-oldHalyna Hutchins is the latest on-set tragedy for an industry that strives for safety while also portraying action-packed stories.

There have been multiple cases of crew members and stunt people dying at work, including a woman whodied performing stunts on the set of “Deadpool 2” in 2017.

Cast members have also died from accidents during production including:

Brandon Lee

The son of the renowned martial arts master and actor Bruce Lee, the 28-year-old was filming the final scenes of the movie “The Crow” when he died after being shot with a prop gun in 1993.

Dummy bullets had been replaced with cardboard wadding, but a bullet fragment had broken off and remained in the gun. That metal tip from the dummy bullet hit Lee’s abdomen.

Lee’s familyreleased a statementfollowing Hutchins death.

Jon-Erik Hexum

Jon-Erik Hexum became famous in 1982 after snagging the lead role of Phineas Bogg in the NBC series “Voyagers!”

The tall and strikingly handsome actor was a rising star and soon cast to play Mac Harper, a CIA operative posing as a male model in the TV series “Cover Up.”

While filming, Hexum reportedly was playing around with a prop gun from a scene and shot himself in the head.

Vic Morrow

Victor Morrow was tragically killed while filming “Twilight Zone: The Movie” in 1982.

The actor and two child actors, 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were being filmed fleeing from a Vietnamese village during the Vietnam war while a US Army helicopter hovered over them.

The chopper crashed following a pyrotechnic explosion, landing on Morrow, 53, and the children, who also died.

The film’s director, the pilot and three others were charged with involuntary manslaughter. They wereall acquittedfollowing a high-profile trial that lasted almost nine months.

Lisa Torraco, the attorney of assistant director Dave Halls, released the following statement Thursday.

Halls, who handed the gun to Alec Baldwin before the fatal shooting, signed a plea agreement “for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon,” the district attorney’s office announced Thursday. Prosecutors said the terms of that deal include six months of probationand a suspended sentence.

In October 2021, a group gathered to film on the set for the Old Western-style movie “Rust” at Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Fifteen months later, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is dead, director Joel Souza was injured and two people, includingstar actor Alec Baldwin, face criminal charges. Another has already agreed to a plea deal on a charge with no recommended prison time.

Here’s a look at the key people on the set of the movie when the fatal gunshot was fired:

Read more:

Prosecutors plan to charge actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter inthe deadly 2021 “Rust” film shooting. Set armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed will also be charged.

If you haven’t been following the story, you can start by reading this timeline of how the on-set tragedy unfolded. And here’s a roundup of today’s major developments:

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said the “Rust” fatal shooting case is not clear-cut negligence and includes factual issues.

First of all, Honig said, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told CNN that she doesn’t know — and “we might not ever know” — how live rounds got onto the set.

Secondly, the incident happened on a movie set, and “most normal people do not knowwhat the norms are on a movieset,” he said.

So the expertise of prop masters are heavily relied upon, but even those experts have different views on what the obligations of actors and crew members are on set, Honig said.

“Remember, this is a criminal case. You need all 12 jurors to findguilt beyond a reasonable doubt.So I’m not saying that there’s nochance here, but this is a really difficultcase for the prosecution,” he added.

Honig also said he was “stunned” that the district attorney decided to charge Alec Baldwin as both an actor and producer.

“The question about a producer — that gets into the questionsof what exactly was Alec Baldwin’s job,what were his responsibilities as itrelates to the many otherdirectors, producers,professionals on that set — and look, sometimes people are producersin name … but are not actually in charge of things in a hands-on way,” he continued.

“All of these are complex factual issues.… This is not a civil proceeding.This is a criminal proceeding.There is the highest burden inour legal system on prosecutors.They have to prove their casebeyond a reasonable doubt andunanimously to the jury.It’s never easy, and I think it’s going to be particularly difficulthere,” he added.

Alec Baldwin speaks during an event in December 2021 in New York.

Actor Alec Baldwin and his legal teamfeel “blindsided” by today’s charges, his attorney Luke Nikas told CNN in a statement Thursday.

They were not given any indication Baldwin would face criminal charges and say they “learned of the charges in the media,” according to Nikas.

In her first televised interview after announcing the charging decisions,New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told CNN’s Josh Campbell her office was in “almost constant contact” with the opposing parties’ attorneys “for about the last six weeks.”

Earlier Thursday, Nikas said the decision to charge “distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice.”

“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win,” Nikas said.

Many other actors have said they “always check their guns or have someone check it front of them,” New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told CNN shortly after announcing her intention of charging actor Alec Baldwin and film armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed with involuntary manslaughter.

She noted that some of those actors were even “A-list” celebrities.

“An actor does not get a freepass just because they are anactor.That is what is so important.We are saying here in NewMexico, that everyone is equal underthe law,” she added.

Carmack-Altwies said there were live rounds mixed in with dummy rounds and crews were not checking ammunition regularly.

Somehow, a live round got loaded into the gun that was handed to Baldwin.

Baldwin failing to check the gun before firing it is a key piece of information that prosecutors are using to argue that he was negligent about the safety standard, Carmack-Altwies said. Negligence is an important part of the involuntary manslaughter charge, according to CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams.

Overall, there was a “lack of safety and safety standards on set,” the district attorney said.

Candles are lighted during a vigil for late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in California in October 2021.

The family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer killed on the “Rust” movie set, said they support the charges that are expected to be filed against actor Alec Baldwin and filmarmorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed.

“It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law,” according to the statement.

Attorney Brian J. Panish,on behalf of the Hutchins family, issued the following statement:

The deadly shooting on the set of “Rust” in Santa Fe, New Mexico, took place in October 2021.

The film set shootingresulted in the death of cinematographerHalyna Hutchinsafter she was struck by a live round of ammunition fired from a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin.

Here’s a look at the scene following the shooting:

A prop cart rests by the scene of the shooting at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe on October 21.

Evidence markers are seen around the scene of the shooting.

A gun and ammunition are seen in a prop cart near the shooting scene.

Police officers respond at the scene of the shooting.

Alec Baldwin is seen on the set of "Rust" following the shooting on October 21, 2021, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The New Mexico district attorney who plans to charge actor Alec Baldwin and the “Rust” set armorer with involuntary manslaughter charges says the pair will not be arrested ahead of their first court appearances.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said she will formally file the charges against Baldwin and the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, “before the end of this month.”

“We will not be asking for an arrest,” the district attorney told CNN’s Josh Campbell.

“We’ll send out what’s called a summons. From that, the court will set what’scalled a first appearance, or, it’s basically anarraignment. And at that pointthey will either have to comehere (to New Mexico) or they might do a videoarraignment, we have been doing those since Covid, and they will get theirconditions of release and enternot guilty pleas.”

The prosecutor told Campbell her office does not plan to charge anyone else in connection with the case.

Alec Baldwin had a responsibility on the set of “Rust” to check the gun he was holding, according to New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.

“Every person that handles a gun has a duty to make sure, if they are going to handle that gun - point it at someone and pull the trigger – that it is not going to fire a projectile and kill someone, and this is really about justice for Halyna Hutchins,” she said to CNN’s Josh Campbell minutes after announcing charges in the case.

Baldwin was both an actor and producer for the movie.

“He’s being charged as both. He was the actor that pulled the trigger, so certainly he’s charged as an actor, but also as a producer he also had a duty to make sure that the set was safe,” said Carmack-Altwies, noting that people on set had complained about the lax safety and there had been accidental misfires prior to this fatal incident.

“He should have been aware that safety was an issue on set and then as an actor that day, he should have checked that gun, checked those projectiles,” she said.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies speaks during an interview on Jan. 19.

Shortly after announcing involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin and “Rust” film armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies outlined why the deadly on-set shooting could result in criminal charges regardless of whether it was an accident.

“Just because it is an accident doesn’t mean that it’s not criminal,” Carmack-Altwies said in an interview with CNN.

Halyna Hutchins attends the SAGindie Sundance Filmmakers Reception in 2019 in Park City, Utah.

Alec Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas said New Mexico prosecutors’ intention to charge the actor with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal “Rust” set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is a “terrible miscarriage of justice.”

New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told CNN why prosecutors believed there was probable cause to charge actor Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed with involuntary manslaughter in the deadly “Rust” movie set shooting.

There were a number of contributing factors to the decision, she told CNN’s Josh Campbell, including “a lack of safetyand safety standards on thatset,that there were live rounds onset; they were mixed in withregular dummy rounds.”

“This was a really fast and loose set,” she said, “and … nobody was doing theirjob. There were three people, that ifthey had done their job thatday, this tragedy wouldn’t havehappened — and that’s David Hallsand Hannah Gutierrez Reed and Alec Baldwin. If they had just done their basicduties, we wouldn’t be standing here.”

Assistant director Halls has signed a plea agreement for the charge of “negligent use of a deadly weapon.”

The Bonanza Creek Ranch, where the film "Rust" was being filmed, appears in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 23, 2021.

The attorney for “Rust” set armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed issued a statement condemning the decision to charge her with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographerHalyna Hutchins.

CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams said prosectors decided to charge actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins due to negligence.

The law defines that “as duty of carethat a reasonable person in asimilar situation would haveprovided,” he said.

It requires prosecutors to review incidents that have happened on other movie sets, he said.

But Williams said “this wasn’t just asimple accident that happened ona movie set, at least according to the prosecutor, allegedly. What this is was such a failurefrom the leadership on the movieset that led to an incrediblytragic death.”

"Rust" Assistant Director David Halls

Assistant director David Halls has signed a plea agreement for the charge of “negligent use of a deadly weapon,” according to the New Mexico prosecutor who announced charges in the fatal “Rust” film set shooting Thursday.

The terms of that deal include six months of probation and a suspended sentence, according to a statement from New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies’ office.

The statement added that charges will not be filed against film director Joel Souza.

CNN has reached out for comment fromactor Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who face involuntary manslaughter charges, and will reach out to Halls and Souza.

In addition to actor Alec Baldwin, “Rust” movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the film’s set in 2021, according to prosecutors.

In March 2022, Gutierrez Reed said she was not called to inspect the gun that ultimately fired a live round andfatally wounded Hutchins. She issued the statement in response to a legal filing in whichBaldwin said Hutchins told him to co*ck the gun.

“Mr. Baldwin knew that he could never point a firearm at crew members under any circ*mstances and had a duty of safety to his fellow crew members,” Gutierrez Reed said.

“Yet he did point the gun at Halyna before the fatal incident against all rules and common sense,” she added.

A distraught Alec Baldwin lingers in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's offices after being questioned on October 20, 2021.

Prosecutors plan to charge actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the deadly 2021 “Rust” film shooting.

Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed will be “charged in the alternative” with two counts of manslaughter, meaning a jury will decide not only whether the two are guilty, but also under which legal definition of involuntary manslaughter.

In either case, a conviction is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5,000 fine, according to the district attorney.

But one definition would involve a firearm enhancement, or added mandatory penalty, because a firearm was involved. In that case, the crime could be punishable by a mandatory five years in jail.

The district attorney said no charges will be filed specific to the non-fatal shooting of the film’s director, Joel Souza.

CNN has reached out to Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed for comment.

In an interview with CNN in August 2022, actor Alec Baldwinplaced responsibilityfor the tragedy on Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who served as the armorer and props assistant on the film, and assistant director Dave Halls, who handed him the gun. In November, Baldwinfiled suitagainst the two and other individuals associated with the film, according to a cross-complaint obtained by CNN.

Through their respective attorneys, both Gutierrez Reed and Halls maintained they were not at fault and accused Baldwin of deflecting blame onto others. Gutierrez Reed also suedthe movie’s gun and ammunition supplierand its founder – who deny wrongdoing – and alleged a cache of dummy ammunition was sold with live rounds mixed in.

In October 2022, the family of Halyna Hutchins — the film cinematographer who was struck and killed by alive roundof ammunition fired from a prop gun —reached an undisclosed settlementin a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Baldwin and others involved in producing the film.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock (12637637k)Alec BaldwinAnnual RFK Ripple of Hope Gala, Show, New York, USA - 09 Dec 2021

Related article Ten months after the 'Rust' shooting, Alec Baldwin says he still thinks about it every day | CNN

This aerial photo shows part of the Bonanza Creek Ranch film set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 23, 2021.

Prosecutors say they are ready to announce whether criminal charges will be filed over the2021 fatal film set shootingof a cinematographer that involved actor Alec Baldwin and other members of the film’s production.

Mary Carmack-Altwies, district attorney for the state’s first judicial district, and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb will disclose their decision in a written statement Thursday morning, according to Carmack-Altwies’ office.

“Regardless of the District Attorney’s decision, the announcement will be a solemn occasion, made in a manner keeping with the office’s commitment to upholding the integrity of the judicial process and respecting the victim’s family,” said Heather Brewer, spokesperson for the office.

Film cinematographerHalyna Hutchinswas struck and killed by alive roundof ammunition fired from a prop gun being held by Baldwin, who maintains he did not pull the gun’s trigger. Director Joel Souza was also injured.

I the summary of thepostmortem investigationinto Hutchins’ death – which was formally signed by the New Mexico chief medical investigator – the cause of death is listed as “gunshot wound of chest,” and the manner of death is listed as an “accident.”

An FBI forensics report said the weapon could not be fired during FBI testing of its normal functioning without pulling the trigger while the gun was co*cked. The report also noted the gun eventually malfunctioned during testing after internal parts fractured, which caused the gun to go off in the co*cked position without pulling the trigger.

Matthew Hutchins, widower of Halyna Hutchins, described her death as a “terrible accident” in a statement at the time of the settlement. Production on “Rust” was to resume this month with Matthew Hutchins joining as an executive producer on the film as part of the agreement.