(Los Angeles) American actor Alec Baldwin could face a new charge in the case of the fatal shooting on the set of the film Rust in 2021, prosecutors announced Tuesday, as the case against the actor for involuntary manslaughter had been formally abandoned in April.
A grand jury, a commission of citizens vested with investigative powers in the United States, must decide in the next two months whether or not to indict him again.
On October 21, 2021, the filming of the western Rust in New Mexico turned into a tragedy when Alec Baldwin pointed a gun supposed to contain only blank bullets, but a very real projectile killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
“After extensive investigation over the past several months, new facts have emerged that we believe demonstrate Mr. Baldwin’s criminal culpability in the death of Halyna Hutchins and the shooting of Joel Souza,” prosecutors said Tuesday Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis.
Alec Baldwin has maintained his innocence from the start. The 65-year-old actor has always maintained that he was assured his gun was harmless and also denies pulling the trigger.
But ballistics experts hired by prosecutors concluded that Alec Baldwin must have exerted some pressure on the trigger for the gun to fire.
The film’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, already faces charges of manslaughter and tampering with evidence, to which she has pleaded not guilty ahead of her trial scheduled for 2024.
In early October, the film’s producers were ordered to hand over certain documents, including Alec Baldwin’s contracts.
Prosecutors had argued to a judge that such information, including how “Mr. Baldwin himself benefits financially from low production costs,” could be relevant to the investigation.
Alec Baldwin and the other producers of the film also face several civil complaints from around ten plaintiffs for the death of Halyna Hutchins.
Filming on Rust resumed in April in Montana, with Halyna Hutchins’ widower Matthew serving as executive producer. In October 2022, he dropped civil charges against Alec Baldwin following an undisclosed settlement.