Prosecutors in New Mexico said on Thursday that it was apparent from early on in their investigation that criminal charges would be filed against those involved in the Rust shooting.
Alec Baldwin, the producer of the Western and its star, was told on Thursday that he would be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also informed that the Santa Fe district attorney was pressing charges against her, too.

Both face two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and are facing a maximum of 18 months in prison if convicted.
If they are also convicted of a firearm enhancement, they will face a mandatory five-year prison sentence.





A distraught Alec Baldwin is seen in October 2021, outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, following the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins


















Hutchins' October 19, 2021 Instagram post showed cast members and staffers, including Baldwin alongside Hutchins herself and armorer Gutierrez-Reed (circled left to right) on the set of Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Dave Halls, the assistant director, Какой сериал посмотреть? Ответ здесь - hd.top-film.it - 'has signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon,' which will likely lead to six months of probation, prosecutors said.

He has also agreed to testify for the state.
Prosecutors declined to say if they offered Baldwin a chance to plead guilty in exchange for his testimony.





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Baldwin in December 2021 said his attorneys told him he was unlikely to face charges, but on Thursday the prosecutors said they knew 'pretty close to the beginning' of their probe that there was criminal liability.
Baldwin has always insisted it was a tragic accident, and he could not be held responsible for the October 2021 death of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins, 42.
He was handed a gun by Halls, which had been prepared by Gutierrez-Reed, and was told the gun was 'cold' - not loaded with live ammunition. Baldwin was rehearsing a scene and pointed the gun at Hutchins, which went off.
He has insisted he did not pull the trigger, but prosecutors said that was not consistent with a FBI report which found the gun would not fire without the trigger being pulled.
'We felt very confident that it was going to be a criminal case pretty close to the beginning, once we started looking at everything,' said special prosecutor Andrea Reeb.









Halls, an experienced assistant director, is pictured on the set of Rust, outside Santa Fe in New Mexico.

He has agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors


















An aerial view of the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, where the movie was being filmed

She told they are confident they will win convictions in their case, despite Baldwin's repeated insistence that he had done nothing wrong.
'I'm sure he was confident he wasn't going to get charged,' Reeb added.
'But he isn't above the law and he is somebody who committed a crime, and we're going to hold him to the law, hold him accountable.'
Reeb said that Baldwin was responsible both for overall conduct on the set, as a producer, and as the person who pointed the gun.











Alec Baldwin, 64, spoke to George Stephanopoulos for an interview which aired in December 2021, and insisted he did not pull the trigger and was not responsible for Hutchins's death













Baldwin's defense attorney, Luke Nikas, called the prosecution of his client a 'terrible miscarriage of justice,' while Gutierrez-Reed's lawyer called Hutchins' death a 'tragic accident.'
Carmack-Altwies said that, even though Hutchins's death was not intentional, it did not mean there was no culpability.
'Just because something's an accident doesn't mean it's not criminal and that's what we have here in this case,' Carmack-Altwies said.
'Because an accident that is not criminal is something that just happens because of an act of God.
'But this was something that was more than mere negligence.
'It's people acting recklessly, people not doing their jobs, people not following safety protocols, not following safety standards and violating all of the standards that we all have to follow if we have a gun in our hands.'
SAG-AFTRA, the organization representing approximately 160,000 actors and other professional entertainers, objected to the charges.
'​The death of Halyna Hutchins is a tragedy, and all the more so because of its preventable nature.

It is not a failure of duty or a criminal act on the part of any performer,' the group said in a statement Thursday.
'The prosecutor's contention that an actor has a duty to ensure the functional and mechanical operation of a firearm on a production set is wrong and uninformed.
'An actor's job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert.

Firearms are provided for their use under the guidance of multiple expert professionals directly responsible for the safe and accurate operation of that firearm.
'In addition, the employer is always responsible for providing a safe work environment at all times, including hiring and supervising the work of professionals trained in weapons.'




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Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (center) died after being shot by Baldwin during a rehearsal on October 21, 2021 in New Mexico

The prosecutors admitted they may never solve the key question of how live rounds ended up on the set.
Gutierrez-Reed has suggested that the set was deliberately sabotaged by the man who supplied the ammunition, Seth Kenney - but Kenney has not been charged.
Kenney has emphasized that it was Gutierrez-Reed's job to ensure the ammunition was not live.
Asked how the live ammunition ended up on set, Reeb replied: 'Unfortunately, that may be a question we're never going to be able to answer.
'We're focused on the issue that they did get on set - and that nobody caught it.

None of these three individuals caught it.'