DA will make decision on ‘Rust’ shooting before end of Jan.
FILE – This aerial photo shows part of the Bonanza Creek Ranch film set in Santa Fe, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died from a gun fired by actor Alec Baldwin. The family of a cinematographer shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the set of the film “Rust” has agreed to settle a lawsuit against Baldwin and the movie’s producers, and production will resume on the project. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
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(NewsNation) — The district attorney in Santa Fe will determine whether to bring charges in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Hayla Hutchins on the “Rust” movie set “before the end of the month,” a spokesperson with the DA’s office confirmed to NewsNation.
So far, nobody has been criminally charged in the October 2021 incident which has been characterized as a tragic but preventable accident resulting from a mix-up of live ammunition and dummy rounds during a rehearsal.
Alec Baldwin, the star and producer of the film, was holding the prop gun that discharged the fatal bullet. In an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, Baldwin said he was told the gun was “cold” and safe to handle.
“What is likely is that someone who was responsible for one situation or one line of responsibility and the other person — a tandem of the two people — one of them or both were negligent,” Baldwin said.
In November, Baldwin sued armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and David Halls, an assistant director, for negligence after they allegedly handed him the loaded gun and announced it was safe.
New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator ruled the shooting an accident after completing an autopsy and review of law enforcement reports.
First Judicial Court District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies has previously indicated up to four people involved in the incident could face criminal charges.
In April, New Mexico workplace and safety regulators fined the film’s production company more than $136,000 and outlined a string of safety failures that took place on set. Those safety failures included two misfires on set prior to the fatal shooting, according to the report.
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