Alec Baldwin launched his OWN legal battle against Rust crew trends now
Alec Baldwin will not escape criminal charges over the death of Halyna Hutchins - but before today's decision, he has already been embroiled in his own legal battles against the Rust crew.
Baldwin shot Hutchins, 42, on October 21, 2021, on the set of Rust at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe. And today, it was announced he will be charged with involuntary manslaughter along with armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Assistant director David Halls signed a plea agreement for the negligent use of a deadly weapon.
'If any one of these three people - Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls - had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It's that simple,' said Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor appointed by the DA to the case.
Baldwin has vowed to fight the charges - and blame for who was responsible for the shooting has already been playing out in the courts.
In November, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against Gutierrez Reed, Halls, prop supplier Seth Kenney and prop master Sarah Zachry. He alleges negligence and seeks damages to be determined at trial for the 'immense grief' he endured.
The District Attorney's office is expected to reveal whether anyone will be held criminally negligent following a litany of litigation stemming from the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins
Hutchins died on the set of the film 'Rust,' after being shot by a gun being held by Alec Baldwin
His lawsuit stems from a previous suit in which another member of the crew, Mami Mitchell, sued Baldwin and others for emotional distress and negligence for ignoring red flags over firearms safety on set. She will be allowed to pursue damages against Baldwin and his production company El Dorado Pictures.
And in a third civil case, Hutchins' widow in October reached an undisclosed settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed Baldwin and others.
Hutchins' death on the set of Rust occured after a real bullet somehow made its way onto the set of the Western drama and through a cascade of missteps, Baldwin fired it from his gun during a rehearsal, tragically ending a life.
FBI testing uncovered a total of five live rounds of ammunition among the movie's prop weapons, six if you count the bullet that went off, killing Hutchins and wounding writer-director Joel Souza.
Baldwin has openly denied pulling the trigger, but this was contradicted an FBI analysis of the vintage Colt handgun that fired the fatal shot.
'With the hammer at full cock, the revolver could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional,' according to the report.
The DA's case will primarily focus on the actions of Baldwin, assistant director Dave Halls, who Baldwin claims handed him the weapon and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was responsible for equipping the firearms on the movie
Producer and actor Baldwin fired the prop gun (pictured) that killed one crew member and injured another on the set of the movie 'Rust' in New Mexico
The FBI analysis confirmed there were several other live rounds of .45 calibre ammunition present on the Rust set on the day Hutchins died, some of them on costumes of other actors in the scene.
All the bullets were embossed with the 'Starline Brass' logo, a company that supplies materials for homemade bullets.
Two loose.45 rounds were collected from the top of a prop cart. A third was in a bandolier worn by one of the performers, and a fourth was found in a brown holster, according to the outlet.
The report didn't indicate which belt belonged to which actor, but a source close to the production told Vanity Fair the bandolier belonged to the character played by Supernatural actor Jensen Ackles, and the holster was Baldwin's.
The fifth live round was found in a box of dummy ammunition, fake bullets made to look like the real thing.
This container 'is the suspected box Hannah was loading the firearm with,' the report states.
'This box contained 36 suspected dummy rounds, and one suspected live round, which is the cartridge that was tested.'
It remains unclear how the bullet got into the container, but the report included a fingerprint testing of the box.
'Hannah is identified as the only person of interest with positive result identification of latent prints on the ammunition box.'
A fingerprint analysis of the bullet had not been done, something Gutierrez Reed's attorney, Jason Bowles, questioned.
Baldwin has openly defied pulling the trigger, but this contradicted an FBI analysis of the vintage Colt handgun that fired the fatal shot
The 42-year-old cinematographer was killed on October 21, 2021, on set at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe during rehearsals of the American Western Film
Gutierrez Reed's father, longtime movie armorer Thell Reed, had reached out to investigators to suggest that the live ammunition may have been introduced to the set by prop supplier Seth Kenney.
Investigators searched his Albuquerque shop in November 2021 to examine live rounds Thell Reed said the supplier had once used to train actors at a shooting range.
'The chemistry testing revealed all the powder in these cartridges were uniform, however did not match the cartridges collected on the set of Rust,' the report stated.
The phones of Gutierrez Reed, Halls, and other figures in the case were examined by detectives, and messages about safety concerns before the shooting were also included in the report.
Hutchins was the cinematography director of the film and is shown here on her Instagram page
What charges and whether anyone will be held criminally negligent following the 'accidental' death - which has seen a litany of litigation - will be announced today
Alec Baldwin vs. Armorer and three crew members
In November, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against Gutierrez Reed and three other crew members over the deadly shooting.
Baldwin's suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court as a cross complaint stemming from a previous suit in which a different member of the crew, Mamie Mitchell, named Baldwin and the others as defendants.
