Involuntary manslaughter charges Alec Baldwin had been facing in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins have been dropped, lawyers for the actor confirmed on Thursday.
“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, attorneys for Alec Baldwin, told The Daily Beast.
The next in a series of eleven preliminary hearings for Baldwin’s case was set to take place on May 3rd in Santa Fe.
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Later on Thursday, however, special prosecutors released a statement saying that charges against Baldwin may be refiled pending a “further investigation.”
“Over the last few days and in preparation for the May 3, 2023, preliminary hearing, new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis in the case against Alexander “Alec” Rae Baldwin, III,” the statement reads. “Consequently, we cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form. We therefore will be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin to conduct further investigation. This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled. Our follow-up investigation will remain active and on-going.”
Hutchins was fatally shot and killed in 2021 while working on the New Mexico set of the Baldwin film Rust, when a prop gun the actor had been rehearsing with went off. Baldwin and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had both been facing a maximum of 18 months in prison if convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges; Gutierrez-Reed now evidently will face those charges alone.
“The new special prosecutor team has taken a very diligent and thorough approach to the entire investigation, which we welcome and have always welcomed,” attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed told The Daily Beast in a statement. “They are seeking the truth and we are also. The truth about what happened will come out and the questions that we have long sought answers for will be answered. We fully expect at the end of this process that Hannah will also be exonerated.”
Production on Rust, which halted when Hutchins was killed, is also scheduled to resume this week in Montana, a spokesperson for the film told CNN.
As part of an undisclosed settlement Baldwin reached last October with Hutchins’ family, production on Rust will be completed with Matthew Hutchins, Halyna Hutchins’ husband, as an executive producer on the film.
“I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin),” Matthew Hutchins said in a statement last October. “All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
Reached by The Daily Beast on Thursday, Matthew Hutchins had no comment.
Baldwin is still facing an additional civil suit filed by Halyna Hutchins’ mother, father, and younger sister that alleges “battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and loss of consortium.” On top of that three of the film’s crew members recently sued the actor, claiming they suffered “blast injuries” and emotional trauma as a result of the fatal shooting.
Six weeks after Hutchins was killed, Baldwin sat for an emotionally charged interview with George Stephanopoulos in which he described the incident as the “worst thing” that had ever happened to him.
“I want to make sure I don’t come across like I’m the victim,” Baldwin told Stephanopoulos. But later, he added, “Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property. Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
Additional reporting by Josh Fiallo.
