- Alec Baldwin is again facing a criminal charge over the 2021 “Rust” movie set shooting.
- The actor was indicted on Friday by a New Mexico grand jury on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
- Prosecutors last year dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin.
Alec Baldwin is again facing criminal charges in connection to the October 2021 “Rust” movie set shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
A New Mexico grand jury on Friday indicted Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge after prosecutors earlier last year dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor. The jury indicted Baldwin on a charge of “Involuntary Manslaughter (Neglect Use of a Firearm)” but offered an alternative charge of “Involuntary Manslaughter (Without Due Caution or Circumspection)” that could be used instead.
Attorneys for Baldwin, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, told Business Insider in a statement: “We look forward to our day in court.”
Last April, prosecutors decided to dismiss two counts of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin, saying that “new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis.”
Those charges were originally filed against Baldwin one year ago.
“Consequently, we cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form,” New Mexico First Judicial special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis told Business Insider in a statement at the time the charges against Baldwin were dropped.
That decision, the prosecutors said at the time, did not “absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled.”
The prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider on Friday.
The shooting that Baldwin has been indicted in connection with unfolded on October 21, 2021, on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set near Santa Fe during the filming of the “Rust” western flick.
It happened as Baldwin — who was producing and starring in the film — was practicing a cross-draw technique that involved his pointing a Colt .45 revolver at a camera on set, according to affidavits previously released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
A bullet from the gun struck Hutchins, a 42-year-old married mother-of-one, mortally wounding her. The movie’s director, Joel Souza, was also injured by the bullet.
Baldwin’s lawyers have said Baldwin didn’t know there was a live bullet in the gun when it fired off.
Baldwin said in 2021 that he never pulled the trigger of the gun that was fired on the “Rust” set. An FBI report determined that the gun used in the shooting could not have been fired without the trigger being pulled.
