Actor Alec Baldwin has had a long career in TV and film, although in the last few years his name has become synonymous with the tragedy that occurred on the set of his forthcoming movie Rust. A prop gun discharged back in October of 2021, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the process. Baldwin and others were charged in relation to this incident, although some of them were dropped. Now Baldwin could be charged against after the latest investigation related to the Rust tragedy.
Following the accident that killed Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin has spoken out about the tragedy, while also facing a long legal battle to avoid jailtime. Although Baldwin got some good news related to those charges, things could potentially take another turn. Variety just revealed that a forensic report claims that the trigger on the prop weapon was indeed pulled. Since the 30 Rock actor was holding said prop when it discharged, this report could seemingly open the door for more charges against him. Part of the report reads:
This fatal incident was the consequence of the hammer being manually retracted to its fully rearward and cocked position followed, at some point, by the pull or rearward depression of the trigger. Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.
According to this latest update, the Colt .45 revolver that killed Halyna Hutchins couldn’t have discharged without the trigger being pulled. Alec Baldwin has denied that he ever pulled the trigger on the weapon, so this is potentially a major development. We’ll just have to see if new charges are filed against Baldwin, who is both an actor, producer, and story writer on Rust.
Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter in January of this year, as was Rust’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Things were looking up for him when the charge was dropped, with the defense claiming that the gun had been modified, and therefore would behave differently. But the latest report seems to contradict that.
Of course, Alec Baldwin wasn’t the only person facing legal issues related to Halyna Hutchins’ traffic death. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, as she served as the movie’s Armorer and therefore presumably would have known if a live round made its way into a prop weapon. For her part, Gutierrez-Reed issued her own lawsuit against the gun supplier who she bought the rounds from. She’s also been claiming that she was overworked on the set of Rust, as she had to do other work besides being the movie’s armorer.
Despite this ongoing situation, Rust is expected to resume filming and be complete. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
