The Prosecutor’s Office evaluates whether to accuse Alec Baldwin again for the death of Halyna Hutchins

Alec Baldwin leaves his apartment in New York, in January 2023. DAVID DEE DELGADO (REUTERS)

New twist in the Rust case. Actor Alec Baldwin is again in the crosshairs of prosecutors investigating the accidental death of photographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western, which occurred in October 2021. In April, investigators dropped the charges against the producer and star, who was holding a revolver in his hand when a bullet wounded the director and ended the life of the filmmaker. A new analysis of the pistol indicates, despite what Baldwin maintains, that it must have been activated to fire the projectile.

Prosecutors have received a new examination of the weapon by forensic experts and ballistics experts from Arizona and New Mexico. They had to resort to spare parts to rebuild the pistol used by Baldwin, which was rendered useless after analysis by the FBI. The new tests have focused on the marks that the mechanism of the weapon has left in a shell casing.

“Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, due to the analysis and findings observed in this report, (it is concluded) that the trigger had to be pulled or squeezed enough to release the revolver, which was fully cocked,” the analysis writes. in the hands of the Prosecutor.

FBI experts had reached the same conclusion in August 2022, when the federal investigative agency released its opinion in a case that shocked Hollywood. The forensic versions contradict the words of Baldwin, who has assured from the beginning that he did not pull the trigger of the Colt 45 type weapon. In interviews with the press and in his judicial statement, he has limited himself to affirming that he only manipulated the hammer of the stir.

The second analysis of the murder weapon raises the pulse that the New Mexico Prosecutor’s Office and Baldwin’s defense have maintained for months, who have fought fiercely to prevent their client from being charged for the death of Hutchins.

In April, prosecutors in the case said they were dropping the accidental manslaughter charge Baldwin faced. The Prosecutor’s Office then considered that it would be difficult to win the case in court after learning that the revolver, a replica made by an Italian company, had been modified before filming. This may have caused a malfunction during the scene Baldwin rehearsed when the gun went off.

Kari Morrissey, the special prosecutor in the case, appointed in March, has not made it clear what she will do with the new findings. However, she has not ruled out that the new report could bring back the charge against Baldwin. The prosecution set a two-month period in early June to decide whether to file new charges.

The death of Halyna Hutchins is about to turn two years old. During this period, neither the authorities nor the production have been able to solve the great mystery of the case: how did real bullets get to the shooting set? Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the head of the production’s armory, also faces charges for omissions in filming. She has pleaded not guilty and her trial will begin in December.

Jason Bowles, a lawyer for Gutierrez-Reed, has said the new report assumes the revolver was not modified, which would undermine the claim that the gun was fired by mistake and had to be fired instead. Tests conducted by the FBI last August revealed that the only way the pistol was actuated without pulling the hammer, which was not cocked, was after giving it a hard blow. This was the one that broke the Colt.

All the culture that goes with you awaits you here.

subscribe

Babelia

The literary novelties analyzed by the best critics in our weekly bulletin

RECEIVE IT
#Prosecutors #Office #evaluates #accuse #Alec #Baldwin #death #Halyna #Hutchins