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Alec Baldwin has been indicted by a grand jury in connection with the death of Halyna Hutchins.
The American cinematographer was fatally shot on the set of “Rust” in October 2021, aged 42, and the actor has now been indicted by a grand jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, thereby reviving the case against him.
Baldwin, 65, would face up to 18 months in prison if he’s convicted of the fourth-degree felony.
However, Baldwin’s attorneys — Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro — are confident that he will ultimately be cleared.
In a statement, they told Entertainment Tonight: “We look forward to our day in court.”
Last year, special prosecutors announced that they planned to present the case to a Santa Fe grand jury.
They argued that probable cause existed to criminally charge the Hollywood star, explaining that “additional facts” suggested that Baldwin “has criminal culpability in the death of Halyna Hutchins”.
In January 2023, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed — the film’s armourer — was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.
Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty and her trial is set to begin in February.
Meanwhile, Baldwin has always denied that he pulled the trigger on the prop gun that killed Hutchins.
The actor — who previously had criminal charges against him dropped — offered a potential explanation for what happened on the set during an interview on “The Chris Cuomo Project” podcast in 2022.
Asked how a gun could be fired without someone pulling the trigger, Baldwin replied: “This did not come from me, this came from the DA’s Office themselves.
“You’re familiar with what fanning a gun is? Have you heard of that phrase, fanning the gun?
So, if you pull the hammer back, and you don’t lock the hammer; if you pull the hammer back pretty far — in old Western movies you’d see someone fan the hammer of the gun — the hammer didn’t lock; you pulled it back to an extent where it would fire the bullet without you pulling the trigger, without you locking the hammer.” — Online
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