Photo: John Lamparski / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS)- Actor Alec Baldwin Friday was indicted by a grand jury in New Mexico on a charge of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust" in 2021.
Friday's indictment marks the second time Baldwin will face charges in the case. He had been similarly charged in January 2023 and pleaded not guilty -- but in April 2023 prosecutors dropped the charges, citing "new facts" that left them unable to immediately proceed with the case.
Those charges were dropped as Baldwin's attorneys questioned whether the prop gun that Baldwin was holding on the movie set during a rehearsal was functioning properly when it fired a live round that killed Hutchins and wounded film director Joel Souza.
"We look forward to our day in court," Baldwin's attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said in a statement following Friday's second indictment.
Baldwin has maintained he did not pull the trigger on the gun, and had been told it was "cold" -- meaning, it did not contain live ammunition.
According to reports, special prosecutors had further tests conducted on the weapon after charges were dropped last year and concluded there was evidence to re-try the case.
Baldwin, 65, had originally been charged along with the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, with involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act stemming from the Oct. 21, 2021 shooting of Hutchins with the prop gun wielded by Baldwin. Gutierrez-Reed also pleaded not guilty.
At the time, New Mexico special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis said they were not able to move forward with the criminal case against Baldwin.
"Over the last few days and in preparation for the May 3, 2023, preliminary hearing, new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis in the case against (Baldwin)," according to the prosecutors. "Consequently, we cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form.
"We therefore will be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin to conduct further investigation."
But the special prosecutors went on to say, "This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may re-filed. Our follow-up investigation will remain active and ongoing."
At the time, the prosecutors did not provide any specifics about the "new facts."
Sources told the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal that the case against Baldwin was weakened by evidence showing that the gun the actor was holding had been modified, making it possible to misfire without the trigger being pulled.
Hutchins, 42, was fatally shot as Baldwin was holding the gun while helping to set camera angles for an upcoming scene.
Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, has insisted he was told the gun was "cold," or contained no live rounds. He has also insisted that while he pulled back the hammer on the weapon, he never pulled the trigger.
Nikas said previously that Baldwin bore no responsibility in the shooting, saying he was assured the gun contained no live ammunition, and he "relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds."
Attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed have also denied that she did anything wrong, even suggesting at one point that others on the set tried to "sabotage" the production by mixing live rounds with blanks.
Attorneys Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion said in a joint statement when the charges were originally filed that the district attorney "has completely misunderstood the facts and has reached the wrong conclusions."
"Hannah pleaded to provide more firearms training," they said. "She was denied and brushed aside. Hannah asked to be able to perform her armorer duties more for safety reasons. She was told by production to focus on props.
"Hannah asked (assistant director David) Halls if they could us a plastic gun for the rehearsal scene and he said no, wanting a `real gun.' Hannah asked to be called back into the church (on the set) if Baldwin was going to use the gun at all and Halls failed to do that. Yet the district attorney has given Halls a six-month probation misdemeanor and charged Hannah and Baldwin with felony offenses carrying at least five years in prison.
"The tragedy of this is had Hannah just been called back into the church by Halls, she would have performed the inspection and prevented this tragedy. We will fight these charges and expect that a jury will find Hannah not guilty."
Halls pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon in exchange for a suspended sentence and six months probation.
Sheriff's investigators determined that live ammunition was found on the "Rust" set, mixed with blanks that are traditionally used in film production.
Hutchins' death led to industry-wide calls for improvements in on-set safety, particularly in regard to the use of firearms.
Filming on "Rust" was suspended after the shooting, but has since resumed, with Hutchins' husband serving as a producer under the terms of a lawsuit settlement.
Hutchins' parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, and the film's script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, have also filed a civil lawsuit in the case.
They are represented by Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who issued a statement Friday saying, "The grand jury has decided that there is sufficient evidence to indict Alec Baldwin on the charge of involuntary manslaughter. We are looking forward to the criminal trial which will determine if he should be convicted for the untimely death of Halyna."
Allred's statement went on to say, "Our clients have always sought the truth about what happened on the day that Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on October 21, 2021. They continue to seek the truth in our civil lawsuit for them and they also would like there to be accountability in the criminal justice system."