Alec Baldwin’s lawyer has described the involuntary manslaughter charges over the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins as a “terrible miscarriage of justice”.
Prosecutors announced Thursday that Baldwin will face two counts of involuntary manslaughter over Hutchins’s death on the movie set of Rust.
In a statement to The Independent, attorney Luke Nikas said: “This decision distorts Halyna 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 with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
Baldwin, 64, and the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting, New Mexico first judicial district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced on Thursday.
They face up to 18 months in prison on each count if convicted.
First assistant director David Halls has agreed to plead guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and will receive a suspended sentence and probation.
“On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice,” Ms Carmack-Altwies said in a statement.
Andrea Reeb, a special prosecutor appointed by the DA to the case, said that the evidence showed a “pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the set of Rust film set”.
“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,” she said. “In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously.”
A legal expert told The Independent the district attorney’s decision to proceed with two charges of involuntary manslaughter was a “bold statement”.
“He has some built-in defences with the fact that he wasn’t the person responsible for making sure the gun was cleared and that there were multiple people on set whose job was to ensure everything was safe,” the former Los Angeles County prosecutor Joshua Ritter said.
“But at the end of the day, the gun was in his hands.”
Los Angeles-based attorney Miguel Custodio said in a statement: “Baldwin pulled the trigger, he has to be accountable, plain and simple. There is clearly no one else who pulled the trigger. And you have to charge the person who pulled the trigger.”
