American actor Alec Baldwin is going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter over the shooting incident on the sets of the film ‘Rust’ which led to the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin was rehearsing a scene on the movie's set when a prop gun discharged and shot Hutchins at a ranch near Sante Fe, New Mexico in October 2021. Director Joel Souza, who was standing beside Hutchins, was also injured in the incident.

Along with Baldwin, the movie's armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed is also going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter. The lawyers of both the accused have announced that they will be fighting the charges. Gutierrez Reed and Baldwin are going to be tried in front of a 12-person jury, facing 18 months in prison along with a $5,000 fine if they are convicted, Santa Fe's District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies stated.

Involuntary manslaughter as defined by New Mexico law is when an act is performed "without due caution and circumspection" and leads to someone's death.

Assistant Director David Halls who handed the prop gun to Baldwin, unaware that the firearm had live rounds inside it, recently entered a plea deal for a misdemeanour charge for the negligent use of a deadly weapon. Halls will be serving six months in probation, the prosecutors stated.

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While Hutchin's family supports the charges, Gutierrez Reed and Baldwin's lawyers have spoken against the decision. "It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law," said the lawyer for Hutchins' husband.

"Mr Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun - or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win," said Luke Nikas, Baldwin's lawyer.

"Hannah is, and has always been, very emotional and sad about this tragic accident. But she did not commit involuntary manslaughter," added Todd Bullion, who is representing Gutierrez Reed.

The initial investigation of the movie set revealed that there were elements of negligence and a lack of proper safety protocols. The New Mexico Environment Department had fined the movie’s producer, with Baldwin being a co-producer, for a failure to adhere to safety standards.

Carmack-Altwies said that she decided to press charges after consulting with other actors. They “always check their guns or have someone check it in front of them,” Carmack-Altwies explained to CNN. “Every person that handles a gun has a duty to make sure that if they’re going to handle that gun, point it at someone and pull the trigger, that it is not going to fire a projectile and kill someone,” she added.

Baldwin has maintained that he did not shoot the gun but the accidental discharge occurred as a result of a misfire. Baldwin also stated that he had no idea that the gun was loaded or how live ammunition was loaded into the weapon.

However, an FBI forensics report stated that the gun in question wasn’t able to fire without pulling the trigger during testing by the FBI. Though the report did add that, as typical for this variety of revolvers, if the hammer was not cocked then the gun could fire by striking the hammer directly.

Jason Bowles, another lawyer for Gutierrez Reed, told NPR that Baldwin had “ignored” to do cross-draw training, which forbids pointing a weapon at anyone or having a finger on the trigger while drawing the weapon.

(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)