According to court documents submitted in the First Judicial District Court in New Mexico, prosecutors charged actor Alec Baldwin and the armourer on the movie “Rust” with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of the film’s cinematographer. They were accused of disregarding standard film safety protocols on set.

Robert Shilling, a special investigator for the district attorney’s office, listed the ways prosecutors contend that the actor had acted recklessly on set in a statement of probable cause against Mr. Baldwin that was submitted to the court.

They claimed:

Baldwin was not present for required firearms training.
After failing to show up to this training, he received a 30-minute on-set training during which he was distracted talking to his family on the phone.
He exhibited “reckless behaviour” in the lead-up to Hutchins’s death.
He had pointed the firearm at Hutchins in the lead-up to the incident violating gun safety rules
Baldwin had not performed the required safety checks with Gutierrez-Reed.
He broke protocol by letting Gutierrez-Reed leave the church set.
He did not deal with safety complaints on set.
He did not use a replica firearm for the unscheduled rehearsal.
He allowed the hiring of Gutierrez-Reed, who had worked on just one production before the movie, which showed he “failed to demand the minimum safety standards, protocols, and requirements on set.”

Mr. Shilling added, “This reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol directly caused the fatal shooting.”

The report follows earlier statements from the prosecutors that both Gutierrez-Reed and Mr. Baldwin would be charged for the death of Halyna Hutchins. However, neither party will be arrested until they refuse to participate in their planned court appearances.

Mr. Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, claimed that the decision to prosecute his client “distorts Halyna Hutchins’s tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice,” stating that they are ready to challenge the charges and will emerge victorious.

Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was accused by the prosecutors for “not checking the rounds she was loading into the firearms,” “allowing live rounds on scene” and “allowing ammunition to not be secured.”

Prosecutors also criticized her for not maintaining control of the firearms, for allowing Mr. Baldwin to aim toward Ms. Hutchins, and for not ensuring that “a rubber or replica gun” was used during practice. They claimed that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed “took an armourer position she was not qualified to accept,” and that she lacked the necessary skills and experience to work as an armourer on a movie of “Rust’s” scale.

The remarks made by the prosecution revealed, according to Ms. Gutierrez-attorney Reed’s Jason Bowles, that they had “completely misunderstood the facts” and “reached the wrong conclusions.” Dave Halls, the film’s first assistant director, who accepted a plea agreement on a charge of reckless use of a deadly weapon, was singled out by Mr. Bowles to share part of the blame.

“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,” Mr. Bowles said. “We will fight these charges and expect that a jury will find Hannah not guilty.”

Mr. Baldwin has maintained his innocence since Mr. Nikas, the fatal shooting that took place on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin’s lawyer, wrote in an arbitration demand last year, “Someone is culpable for chambering the live round that led to this horrific tragedy, and it is someone other than Baldwin.”

Mr. Baldwin claimed that Ms. Hutchins had directed him where to point the firearm and that he had been told it was “cold,” which meant it shouldn’t have had any live rounds. The F.B.I. analysis, according to the prosecution, showed that the trigger had to have been pulled; whereas Baldwin claimed that the gun fired after he drew the hammer back and released it.

However, Baldwin is accused of failing to show up for the required firearms safety training ahead of filming and was preoccupied on the phone with his family during a subsequent training session with Ms. Gutierrez-Reed.

“The evidence and statements documented in this affidavit confirm many instances of extremely reckless acts or reckless failures to act by Baldwin in a 10-day period,” Mr. Shilling wrote.

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