Actor Alec Baldwin may face criminal charges in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Last October, the “30 Rock” actor fatally shot Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza when the gun he was holding on the set of the Western film “Rust” discharged. Baldwin has insisted that he did not pull the trigger and remains unsure how the live ammunition ended up in the gun on the film set.
The Santa Fe police department has been investigating the incident since it happened, and it appears they may be close to filing criminal charges against several individuals. However, Alec Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, said it was “irresponsible” to suspect that Baldwin would be one of the people criminally responsible for Hutchins’ death.
Alec Baldwin’s Lawyer Warns Against Drawing ‘False Conclusions’
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Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas, responded to a letter published on August 30 from Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, which requested $635K from the New Mexico Finance Board to prosecute four individuals on felony and murder charges.
In the letter, the DA said “one of the possible defendants is the famous movie actor Alec Baldwin” (via Deadline).
Nikas responded to the note to the finance board, saying, “During my communication with the DA’s office just a few weeks ago, after the August 30 funding application was submitted, I was told that it was too early to discuss the case because they had not yet reviewed the file or discussed their charging decision. .”
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Nikas went on to say that “It is irresponsible to report otherwise,” adding, “The DA’s office must be given the space to review this matter without baseless speculation and innuendo.”
“The DA has made it clear that he has not received the sheriff’s report or made any decisions about who, if anyone, might be charged in this case,” he added.
Santa Fe DA May File Criminal Charges Against 4 People
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As Deadline previously reported, the Santa Fe DA has been awarded $317,750 dollars to prosecute four people in the “Rust” fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins. However, none of the four individuals have yet been named. It is possible that Baldwin will be charged, given that he was holding the gun when it was fired, but that has not been confirmed at this time.
A representative for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office told Deadline that “no final report has been prepared” and had no further comment on when, or if, charges will be filed against these four individuals. $317,750 dollars will go toward “attorneys, investigators, media liaisons, paralegals, expert witnesses and general trial expenses.”
While the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office is still investigating how the live shooting ended on the movie set, Rust shield Hannah Gutierrez-Reed criticized the investigation on April 18.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed calls for Santa Fe Police Department ‘Rust Investigation’
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According to The Wrap, Gutierrez-Reed called the Santa Fe police department after she learned that they did not perform DNA testing on the live rounds found on the film set. He claimed that the lack of DNA “caused serious problems” in their investigation.
“The main question in this case from the beginning is where did the live rounds that ended up on the Rust set come from?” Gutierrez-Reed said in a statement. “As can be seen from the attached email, the Sheriff’s office made a conscious decision not to pursue this question at all by refusing to have the FBI test any of the rounds for fingerprints or DNA.”
He went on to say that, given that law enforcement officials knew “definitely” there was a live round on set, “It’s inconceivable that the Sheriff would not find answers to this fundamental question and it creates serious problems with the entire investigation.”
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He also shared a chain of emails that appeared to contain conversations with Albuquerque attorney Jason Bowles, who represented Gutierrez-Reed, and Alexandria J. Hancock of the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office.
“Do you know why the fbi didn’t do any DNA testing on that round?” Bowles wrote to Hancock in an email, dated Thursday, August 18 at 8:32 a.m. Less than an hour later, Hancock responded, “We are discussing as a team what makes the most sense for the investigation. As the item is from a film set, which has been handled over and over again.”
Bowles seems to agree, adding that it’s still possible to get DNA from the round. Hancock replied, “Thank you for your input, however we are done with testing at this time. We already know that Hannah loaded the weapon that was used during the incident, that is the truth. We also know that everything in question was handled by multiple people after the incident.”
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Bowles asked Hancock to reconsider, stating, “This is going to be a very important issue in the trial, if we get there.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
