A prosecutor in New Mexico intends to charge Alec Baldwin with two counts of involuntary manslaughter it was announced on Jan. 19, 2023, over the deadly shooting on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021. The shooting occurred while Baldwin was rehearsing a scene with a gun that had been loaded with live ammunition instead of blanks. The prosecutor also intends to charge Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer responsible for overseeing the safety of firearms on the set, with two counts of involuntary manslaughter as well.
As a professor of law, my job is to understand the nuance of the U.S. legal system. Involuntary manslaughter occurs when a person unintentionally, but still unlawfully, kills another person. And a prosecutor will need to show the unlawful nature of either Baldwin’s or Gutierrez-Reed’s actions to get a conviction in this case.
