Despite the original claims being dropped earlier this year, Alec Baldwin may have to face criminal charges again for the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
In his claim, Baldwin stated that the prop gun had gone off on its own and he never pulled the trigger. However, a forensic report released on Tuesday concluded that the trigger had to have been pulled sufficiently enough for the gun to fire. The prop Colt .45 revolver had live rounds, striking director Joel Souza and killing Hutchins.
“This fatal incident was the consequence of the hammer being manually retracted to its fully rearward and cocked position followed, at some point, by the pull or rearward depression of the trigger,” stated the firearms report by experts Lucien Haag and Mike Haag.
The incident took place in October 2021, when Baldwin was holding the gun for the film Rust on the New Mexico set. He claimed that due to modifications made to the gun for the film, it could go off at any time — which it did, leaving him with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
"The charges against Alec Baldwin were dismissed without prejudice because a possible malfunction of the gun significantly affects causation with regard to Baldwin, not with regard to Gutierrez. If it is determined that the gun did not malfunction, charges against Mr. Baldwin will proceed," said prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis after the initial charges were dropped.
Rust armorer Hanna Gutierrez-Reed has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter along with evidence tampering, and will face trial in December. Her lawyers push that the gun's report "does not indicate any modification to the gun" and "specifies that the trigger had to be pulled."
"If the hammer had not been fully retracted to the rear, and were to slip from the handler's thumb without the trigger depressed, the half cock or quarter cock notches in the hammer should have prevented the firing pin from reaching any cartridge in the firing chamber,” said an excerpt of the weapons report included in the court documents.
After reaching a separate settlement with Hutchins' widower, filming proceeded and wrapped earlier this year in Montana. The film is now in post production. ~Ireland Fidale