Judge makes ruling in Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ shooting case
Ahead of Alec Baldwin’s trial regarding the tragic accident on the set of the film Rust, the judge has ruled out any possibility of the actor being charged as one of the producers of the film.
Baldwin had initially been working on the film as an actor and co-producer when a prop gun went off, accidentally killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joe Souza. Though Baldwin had the firearm in his hand when it went off, he had been awaiting trial over whether he would be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has ruled out any chance of Baldwin being tried as a producer on the film, stating, “I’m having real difficulty with the state’s position that they want to show that as a producer he didn’t follow guidelines and therefore as an actor Mr Baldwin did all of these things wrong that resulted in the death of Ms Hutchins.”
Baldwin was not the first person on set charged with the incident. Because of the overseeing of firearms, weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez was sentenced to 18 months in prison for not adhering to safety protocols. Assistant director David Halls has also been charged with six months in prison for negligence with a deadly weapon.
Baldwin’s defence claims that Gutierrez was primarily responsible for the tragic accident, but if convicted, the actor could spend up to eight months in prison. At the moment, his trial is set for July 9th, and the actor has since been instructed not to be in possession of a firearm until the trial prior to the court date.
On the other side of the legal dispute, prosecutors claim that Baldwin was being careless with the props before the gun went off. Despite the actor insisting that the firearm was discharged on its own, it has been alleged that prior to the fatal shot, Baldwin had pointed the gun in the direction of Ms Hutchins to set up a line of sight in the shot.
Ever since the shooting, Baldwin has said that he would have never pointed a live gun at anyone had he known that it was live. As the actor awaits trial, the production on Rust resumed in early 2023 and was completed by April of the same year. As of yet, there is no word on when the movie is set to hit theatres.
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