The film’s gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who handled the weapon, is the subject of the same charge, said Santa Fe County District Attorney in New Mexico, Mary Carmack-Altwies.
By Belga
LAmerican actor Alec Baldwin, author of a fatal shooting on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021, has been charged with manslaughter and faces up to five years in prison if convicted of aggravated negligence, has a prosecutor announced on Tuesday.
The film’s gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who handled the weapon, is the subject of the same charge, said Santa Fe County District Attorney in New Mexico, Mary Carmack-Altwies.
“No one is above the law and justice will be served,” she insisted in a statement.
On October 21, 2021, this filming on a ranch in New Mexico (southwest) had turned tragic when Mr. Baldwin had activated a weapon supposed to contain only blank bullets, but of which a very real projectile had killed the director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injured director Joel Souza.
This rare news item had shocked Hollywood and had a strong impact, triggering calls to ban firearms on the sets, where the presence of live ammunition is in theory already prohibited.
If convicted of simple manslaughter, Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed risk up to 18 months in prison. But this sentence could be increased to a maximum of five years in prison in the event of aggravated negligence.
The prosecutor announced her intention to prosecute on January 20. The actor’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, then denounced a “terrible miscarriage of justice”.
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