Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for a shooting on a movie set that killed the cinematographer and injured the director. The gun was being used as a prop and Baldwin allegedly fired a live round. The district attorney accused Baldwin of not receiving sufficient training and failing to ensure safety on set. The armorer, Hannah Reed, was also charged for not properly checking the rounds in the firearms. Baldwin's lawyer denies that he knew there was a live bullet in the gun. The shooting occurred during a rehearsal and several crew members had previously walked off the set due to working conditions. If found guilty, Baldwin could face a mandatory five-year sentence. The state regulators faulted the producers of the film for disregarding the risks of handling guns on set. A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by the cinematographer's family. The actor, Alec Baldwin, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for the shooting on the set of a western that killed the film's cinematographer and wounded its director, according to court papers filed in New Mexico. Alec Baldwin was born on April 3, 1958, in Amityville, New York. He grew up in Massachusetts, a suburb of Long Island. Alec Baldwin's career started in 1980 when he was cast in daytime soap opera, The Doctors, followed by a role in primetime soap Knots Landed from 1984 to 1985. In 1986, he made his Broadway debut in Joe Orton's Loot, and he made his film debut a year later in Forever Lulu. Over the years, Baldwin has shown his versatility as an actor in fields. The district attorney for Santa Fe County, Mary Carmack, had said weeks earlier that Mr. Baldwin, as well as the movie's armorer, would face two counts of involuntary manslaughter for handling the gun and for failing to make sure the gun and ammunition were properly checked. The gun was being used as a prop on the set of Rust, which was being filmed near Santa Fe, in October 2001, when prosecutors said Mr. Baldwin pulled the trigger, firing a live round that struck the cinematographer, Helena Hutchins. In a statement of probable cause, Robert Shillen, the special investigator for the district attorney's office, accused Mr. Baldwin of not receiving sufficient firearms training, failing to deal with the safety complaints on set, and of putting his finger on the trigger of a real firearm, and of pointing the weapon at the cinematographer and the director. In a statement of probable cause against the armorer, Hannah Reed, prosecutors fined her for not checking the rounds she was loaded into the firearms, for allowing live rounds on scene, and for allowing ammunition to not be secured. They also accused her of failing to stay with the firearm, and she said she did not have enough experience or training. In a statement after the announcement that charges were forthcoming, a lawyer for Mr. Baldwin, Luke Nickus, said, This decision distorts Helena 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 who he worked with, who assured him that the gun had no live rounds. A lawyer for Ms. Hannah Reed, Jason Baus, said the prosecutors' statements showed that they had completely misunderstood the facts, and had reached the wrong conclusions. Both lawyers said they would fight the charges. On 21st October 2001, Mr. Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved Krause-Jahren, a revolver, and pointing it towards the camera lens. Joe Asuza, the film's director, told a detective investigating the shooting, according to the court papers. The Bonanza Creek Ranch set was inside a structure depicting a 19th-century wooden church. The gun discharged, and the bullet struck Ms. Hutchins in the chest and Ms. Asuza in the shoulder. Ms. Hutchins, age 42, was airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque, where she died. Ms. Asuza, age 48, was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Santa Fe, and was released the next day. Hours before the shooting, about six members of the camera crew walked out the set over working conditions, including complaints about long work days and delayed paychecks. There were at least two accidental gun charges on the set of October 16th, days before the fatal shooting, according to three former members of the film's crew. Criminal charges were fought against Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Reed about two weeks after Santa Fe's County District Attorney announced them. Mr. Baldwin would not be arrested, but rather issued a summons for an arraignment, either in person or virtually. In New Mexico, as in many states, involuntary manslaughter is defined as killing another person unlawfully but unintentionally. If a jury found Mr. Baldwin or Ms. Reed guilty, it would choose between two manslaughter charges. The more serious one includes a firearm enhancement and a mandatory five-year sentence, while the other charge carries a sentence to up to 18 months. Mr. Baldwin has repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, and said that he believed the gun did not have live ammunition in it. But Ms. Carmack said an FBI analysis of the gun showed that Mr. Baldwin absolutely pulled the trigger, adding that prosecutors waited to move forward with charges until they received that report. In January 2022, Mr. Baldwin turned his phone into the police in Sofal County, New York, after investigators obtained a search warrant for the device, saying they believed it might contain some evidence. On April 20th, New Mexico state regulators released a report in which they faulted the producers of Rust and claimed that Ms. Hudson's death was caused by the film management disregard for the risks associated with handling guns on set. The state also issued a $130,000 penalty on the production company. The sheriff of Santa Fe County described the gun as a .45 long coat revolver made by the Italian manufacturer Filippietta. According to the affidavit, Detective Joel Cano of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said that Dave Hoss, an assistant director on the set, had gone outside and taken a gun off a court where it had been placed by the film's armorer, Ms. Reed, and handed it to Mr. Baldwin during the rehearsal. The assistant director announced that it was a cold gun, indicating that it contained no live rounds and was safe to handle. According to an affidavit, Mr. Hoss, who had previously been the subject of complaints about his regard for safety protocols on set, told an investigator that, after the armorer opened the gun for him to inspect, he did not check all of the rounds as he should have before handing it to Mr. Baldwin. It was not clear how the projectile that was fired ended up in the gun. According to court documents filed in late November, investigators were trying to determine whether Seth Kenny, who was supposed to provide the production with blanks and dummy rounds, may have sent live ammunition as well. Filmmakers described Ms. Hutchins as a skilled cinematographer with an artistic vision who was deeply committed to her work. She grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle and studied economics in Ukraine before switching to a journalism program at Keefe National University. She later attended the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles. On February 15th, her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against crew members and producers, including Mr. Baldwin, accusing them of reckless conduct and cutting measures that endangered the crew. As part of a settlement that was announced in October, Ms. Hutchins' husband will become an executive producer on the field.