Roncus
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Actor Alec Baldwin, who fatally shot a cameraman on the set of the 2021 Western movie “Rust,” and actress Anna Gutierrez Reed will both be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said Thursday.
The family of Halyna Hutchins, who was responsible for the shooting, thanked prosecutors for their decision.
“The family’s comfort is that in New Mexico no one is above the law,” the family said in a statement released by attorney Brian J. Panish.
Baldwin stated that he did not know that the gun had been fired during the review. His attorney called the prosecution’s trial “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”
“This decision distorts the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins and represents a serious miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere in the film, attorney Lucas Nikas said.
“He was fired by the professionals he worked with who didn’t carry a gun around for a living. We will fight these crimes, and we will win.
Live updates: Alec Baldwin is considered to be a fatal shooting ‘rust’
Attorney Gutierrez Reed said he believes jurors will find his client not guilty.
“We were expecting charges, but Anna is completely wrong – we hope she will not be found guilty by the jury and that she did not commit murder,” attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement Thursday.
“She was moved by the tragedy but did not commit any crime.”
Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed face each other on two counts of involuntary manslaughter so that jurors can decide which particular count is more appropriate, New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.
If they are convicted, “in only one trial,” said the prosecutor.
In both cases, a conviction is punishable by up to 18 months in prison and up to a $5,000 fine, prosecutors said.
But one count involves a firearm enhancement or an additional penalty because it involves a firearm. In that case, prosecutors said the messenger could be punished with five years in prison.
Charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed were formally filed at the end of this month, Carmack-Altwies said. The prosecutor will not be in charge of arresting the accused at that time.
Baldwin and his legal team feel “blindsided” by the announcement, Nikas said.
Baldwin has not been identified as having committed a criminal offense and “learned about the crimes in the media,” he added.
Carmack-Altwies told CNN that her office has been in “almost constant contact” with opposing attorneys “for about the last six weeks.”
“They knew they didn’t know what was going on, but they knew we were looking into the crimes and they knew what was planned,” he said.
The district attorney said he believed “Rusty” had “a really fast and loose set,” saying there were lack of safety standards and “they’re going around living on the set — they’re mixed up with the regular ghosts going around.”
“Nobody was checking them, or at least not checking them consistently,” Carmack-Altwies said.
And then somehow they handed Alec Balduino a loaded gun; He didn’t criticize, he didn’t do any of the things he was supposed to do that made him think he was safe or that anyone around him was safe. And then he pointed the gun at Halyn Hutchins and pulled the trigger.
Baldwin was also the producer of “Rust” and therefore had other duties, the district attorney said.
“As a producer, he also had a responsibility to make sure the set was safe,” said Carmack-Altwies. “So that day the player, having restrained that gun, restrained the projectiles.”
Hutchins was shot and alive and surrounded by bullets fired from the gun stand by Baldwin, who claims he did not pull the trigger of the gun.
Director Joel Souza was also wounded and injured. No charges will be filed against Souza in relation to the shooting.
In the summary of Hutchins’ postmortem — which was officially signed by New Mexico’s chief medical examiner — the cause of death is listed as “gunshot wound of the chest” and the manner of death is listed as “accidental.” ”
“A review of the additional law enforcement reports shows no compelling demonstration that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on set.” Based on all available information, including the absence of a clear intent to cause harm or death, the manner of death is most likely accidental,” the report concluded.
An FBI forensic report said the gun could not be fired in the FBI’s experience of normal operation without pulling the trigger while the gun was cocked. The report also noted that the gun eventually malfunctioned during testing after internal parts broke, which caused the gun to go off the cock without pulling the trigger.
The shooting shows a flurry of fingers and allegations of negligence involved by them.
In an interview with CNN in August, Baldwin placed the responsibility for the tragedy on Gutierrez Reed, who served as his assistant gunman on the film, and assistant director Dave Hall, who handed him the gun.
Courts signed a plea agreement “on the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon,” the district attorney’s office announced on Thursday. Prosecutors said the terms of that deal include six months of probation and in suspended sentence.
On Thursday, Hall’s attorney, Lisa Torraco, released a statement on behalf of her client.
“Absent any charges at all, this is the best outcome for the court and the case,” Torraco said. “We can now put this matter behind us and focus on targeting the victims and changing the industry so that this type of incident never happens again.”
In November, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against Gutierrez Reed and Hall and others associated with the film, according to a cross-complaint obtained by CNN.
Through their respective attorneys, Gutierrez Reed and Halli have maintained that they are not at fault, and have accused Baldwin of deflecting criticism onto others.
Gutierrez Reed also claimed the gun and web of the film’s creator and its founder, who deny wrongdoing, and alleged that the fantastic engine room was sold mixed with live ammunition.
In October, the Hutchins family reached a closed settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Baldwin and others involved in the film’s production.
Matthew Hutchins, Halyn Hutchins’ widower, described her death as a “terrible accident” at the time of the issue. Production on “Rust” was set to resume this month with Matthew Hutchins joining as an executive producer as part of the film’s deal.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the last name of attorney David Hall. It’s a chest.
