Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charge over the accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movieRustwas dismissed in July, but special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has requested that the judge reconsider her decision. According to Morrissey, there was insufficient evidence to support a dismissal, and an appeal to reinstate the charges may be the prosecution’s next step.
AP Newsreported that theRusttrial was dismissed after only three days of court proceedings by State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Summer, citing withheld evidence from prosecutors and police, as well as a violation of Baldwin’s due process. According to the judge, a previously undisclosed batch of ammunition was brought into a sheriff’s office in March by a man who believed that it possessed similar characteristics to the live rounds used on the set ofRust. Prosecutors eventually deemed the ammunition to be unrelated to the case, but Baldwin’s defense argued that the prosecution had deliberately taken steps to conceal the new evidence, and subsequently filed a motion to dismiss Baldwin’s case.
A boy left to fend for himself and his younger brother following their parents' deaths in 1880s. Kansas goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather after he is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.
However, in her request to reconsider the judge’s dismissal, Morrissey stated that the undisclosed ammunition was irrelevant to the charges against Baldwin. She argued that it was Baldwin’s responsibility to maintain gun safety standards on the set ofRustaccording to long-established industry guidelines, and added that the defense knew about the rounds, but they denied an opportunity to view them prior to the start of the trial. Morrissey’s motion to reinstate the chargesconcluded with a requestfor the defense to submit a full report of when and how it learned about the rounds.
Has Justice Been Delivered to Alec Baldwin?
The dismissal of Baldwin’s case occurred two and a half years after the fatal shooting that took the life of celebrated cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. While filmingRust, an American Western film, Baldwin was rehearsing a scene with a prop gun when the gun fired a live round —though Baldwin has categorically denied pulling the trigger. Hutchins was fatally wounded, while director Joel Souza was injured but eventually recovered. Both Baldwin and movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in January of 2023, while assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to a charge of negligence with a deadly weapon. Halls was sentenced to six months of probation, while Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving a 16-month sentence.
Rust Shooting Victim’s Widower Speaks Out About Alec Baldwin Trial Dismissal, Seeks New Trial
Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial came to a dramatic end as the case was thrown out, but Halyna Hutchins' family want a full re-trial.
Since theRusttragedy, the safety regulations — or lack thereof — surrounding the use of prop firearms on movie and television sets has come under intense scrutiny. TheBBCreports that there are no federal laws policing the use of prop firearms, and many states leave these safety standards to the discretion of the industry itself. Some film studios, such as Warner Bros. have published their own rules regarding prop weaponry, but even these are far from definitive.
Whileon-set fatalities due to prop weaponry are admittedly rare, support has grown among actors and industry members for a ban on any guns being used in filming. However, opponents of the ban believe that the responsibility lies with the actor or prop armorer to ensure appropriate safety standards are adhered to. From this perspective, Baldwin shoulders at least some degree of responsibility for his ultimately fatal actions on the set ofRust.
