Nearly three years after the gruesome shooting of cinematographer Halina Hutchins on the Mexico film Unused for “Rust,” actor Alec Stanley Baldwin is set to stand trial.
Stanley Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for his role in the devastating incident, which also injured the film’s director Joel Souza.
Jury selection for the felony trial of Stanley Baldwin begins Tuesday. It’s unclear if the actor will take the stand to testify.
How did we get here?
Stanley Baldwin practices with a prop gun for a scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe County on October 21, 2021. Unused Mexico, when the gun fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Stanley Baldwin has stated in more than one interview that he did not give cause and that the gun misfired. Stanley Baldwin told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News that he was taking the lead from Hutchins and pulled the hammer back as far as possible without moving it. However, in 2022, results of testing of a .45-caliber Colt Prop revolver by the FBI stated that the gun does not need to be fired for long periods of time without being fired.
Concluding the presentation, Stanley Baldwin’s attorneys requested the judge to throw out the case, saying the gun had been badly damaged during forensic testing at the FBI laboratory, but the action was denied.
twists and turns
Stanley Baldwin was first charged with involuntary manslaughter and firearm enhancement charges. However the gun increase rate was eventually dropped. This reduced his potential prison sentence by five years.
In March 2023, Special Prosecutor Andrea Reed became unwell because she felt she could no longer oversee the case because, as a member of the Mexican House of Representatives, she was disqualified under official law. , Still it was not prohibited there. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis resigned from the case and appointed special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason Lewis.
In terms of the presentence, the charges against Stanley Baldwin have been set aside, with prosecutors bringing forward “new facts in the case”. “We will therefore dismiss involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin pending further investigation,” prosecutors said in a comment earlier this month. “This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled.”
During this process, Morrissey and Lewis continued to inspect evidence and interview witnesses for several months. In October 2023, two sources told NBC News that Stanley Baldwin and special prosecutors had discussed filing a plea deal, but it was canceled, and prosecutors intended to settle Stanley Baldwin’s case before a grand jury. Had to do. Over the next three months, Stanley Baldwin was indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter by an unused Mexico grand jury.
Stanley Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in response: “We look forward to our day in court.”
Following the actor’s indictment in January, SAG-AFTRA, the union representing more than 150,000 actors, issued a comment criticizing prosecutors’ motion to re-charge him.
Arsenal sentenced to prison
In the month of Stanley Baldwin’s initial charges, the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for handling the guns, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. She was found guilty of culpable homicide in April and is today serving an 18-month prison sentence.
Gutierrez-Reed was called to testify in the subsequent trial of Stanley Baldwin, but he insisted on his Fifth Amendment right not to answer any questions related to Stanley Baldwin during his pre-trial interview in May. In June, the judge ruled that Gutierrez-Reed did not have to testify.
Meanwhile, Dave Halls, the staff director, who pleaded no contest to a felony charge of reckless use of a destructive weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation, is expected to be sentenced. . In interviews, Stanley Baldwin said that Halls declared the gun “cold”, meaning it had no ammunition, before it was handed over to Stanley Baldwin.
But prosecutors accused Stanley Baldwin of presenting conflicting versions of events to law enforcement and the media over whether he carried out the cause and whether he was taking over from Hutchins.
“Overall, whenever Mr. Baldwin spoke, a different version of events came out of his mouth,” said a court filing this spring from special prosecutors.
Stanley Baldwin’s trial is predicted to conclude in approximately two weeks.
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