American actor Alec Baldwin wrote a fatal shooting on the set of the film Rust In 2021, a conviction for manslaughter and gross negligence carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, a prosecutor announced Tuesday.
• Read more: Alec Baldwin fatal shooting on set: Possible charges announced Thursday
• Read more: Alec Baldwin charged in Halina Hutchins’ death
The gunman in the film, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who handled the gun, faces the same charges, said Santa Fe County, New Mexico District Attorney Mary Cormack-Altweiss.
“No one is above the law and justice will be served,” he asserted in a statement.
On October 21, 2021, this shooting at a farm in New Mexico (Southwest) turned tragic, Mr. Baldwin fired a weapon that contained only blank bullets, but one of the live projectiles killed director of photography Halina Hutchins. 42-year-old director Joel Sosa was injured.
The rare news shocked Hollywood and had a strong impact, prompting calls to ban guns on sets where live ammunition is already in theory prohibited.
Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reid face up to 18 months in prison if convicted of manslaughter. But the punishment can be increased to a maximum of five years imprisonment in case of gross negligence.
The prosecutor announced his intention to prosecute on January 20. The actor’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, condemned the “terrible miscarriage of justice”.
“Baldwin has no reason to believe there was live ammunition in Mr. Gun’s or anywhere else at the scene of the shooting,” he stressed.
Alec Baldwin, 64, is the most famous of the series 30 Rock, Always said he was assured his weapon was harmless.
David Halls, the assistant director who gave him the weapon, told him it was not dangerous and will be charged with negligence in the use of a deadly weapon. Cases he chose not to contest.
AFP
Mr Baldwin denies pulling the trigger, as many experts doubt.
In August, the actor said he expected no one would be charged, telling CNN he had hired a private investigator to establish responsibility in the case.
The tragedy led to a flurry of civil lawsuits from several members of the group.
In October, Alec Baldwin announced that he had reached a settlement to end civil lawsuits brought by the M family.me Hutchins. Its amount was not disclosed.
At that time, the shooting started again Rust Announced in early 2023. Matthew Hutchins, husband of the late cinematographer, is set to be promoted to executive producer of the film.
