Grand jury indicts actor Alec Baldwin in fatal "Rust" movie shooting

A grand jury on Friday indicted actor Alec Baldwin on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting on the New Mexico set of the movie “Rust.”

The indictment filed in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe comes nine months after prosecutors dropped nearly identical charges against Baldwin, citing “new facts” that demanded additional investigation.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the movie, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set. The gun fired, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

Special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis announced their decision in April 2023 to dismiss the felony charge after “new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis.”

The prosecutors also wrote in a June 9 motion that Baldwin could still face criminal charges based on the results of a firearms test.

“If it is determined that the gun did not malfunction, charges against Mr. Baldwin will proceed,” Morrissey and Lewis wrote in the motion filed in the case of Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the weapons supervisor on the film, who remains charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case.

A trial for Gutierrez Reed is scheduled to begin Feb. 21 in 1st Judicial District Court.

Prosecutors in August received a new firearms report that appeared to contradict a portion of Baldwin’s account of the shooting.

Baldwin has maintained that he did not pull the trigger of a prop Colt .45 revolver he was holding on Oct. 21, 2021, during a rehearsal on the “Rust” movie set near Santa Fe.

Baldwin’s attorneys said Friday they will fight the new charges.

“We look forward to our day in court,” Baldwin’s attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, told The Associated Press in an email.

Arizona firearms expert Lucien C. Haag, author of the firearms report, concluded that a trigger pull would have been required to fire the Italian-made Pietta .45 caliber prop revolver that killed Hutchins.

Haag wrote in the Aug. 2 report that “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.”

Baldwin has said that he pulled back the hammer but did not pull 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,” Haag wrote.