A judge’s surprise ruling has ended the prosecution of Alec Baldwin nearly three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on the New Mexico set of the film “Rust.” The ruling , which came in the trial’s fourth day, was a surprise end to case that had already been dropped once. The judge’s ruling prevents Baldwin from being tried again.
Baldwin was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and faced up to 18 months in prison if convicted Baldwin, the star and co-producer of the Western, was pointing a revolver at Hutchins during a rehearsal in a small church on the movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired. It has never been officially determined who brought the live rounds that killed Hutchins on to the set.
Prosecutors at the previous trial of “Rust” armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said she was responsible. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to the same 18 months in prison Baldwin faced. Prosecutors had two alternative standards for proving the charge.
One is based on the negligent use of a firearm. The other is proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin acted with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others. Despite the legal and technical complexities of the case, the 12 citizens of Santa Fe County would have hadto reach just one v.