Everything You Need To Know About The Alec Baldwin And Halyna Hutchins Case

1. Alec Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter

Image source: The Hollywood Reporter

Both Alec Baldwin and Hanna Gutiérrez-Reed have been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. This means that the pair of them now face a maximum of 18 months in jail. The date of the trial is expected to be May 17, 2023, to February 21 in 2024.

2. He was initially called a 'free man'

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The revelation came as quite a shock after it initially seemed the pair had not been considered to be guilty. Alec Baldwin had been called a free man, and was allowed to continue to travel around. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's department had said that they were not charging the actor.

3. A civil case was held against him

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The script supervisor Mamie Mitchell filed a lawsuit against Alec Baldwin as well as several other people involved with the creation of the movie 'Rust'. The lawsuit stated negligence. But, this trial has been paused until after the criminal trial, by a Judge who also lifted his risk of self-incrimination.

4. He filed a countersuit against 3 people

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In November 2022 Alec Baldwin files a cross complaint to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. His complaint listed several people on set who had a job and a duty to keep those working in the film safe. He listed Gutiérrez-Reed for not checking the bullets. He also listed David Halls, the director as one of these people who failed to check the gun and keep them safe. And he listed Zachry (prop master) for not telling anyone that Gutiérrez-Reed had been acting recklessly.

5. Baldwin claims he never pulled the trigger

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Alec Baldwin at the time of Halyna Hutchins's tragic death, was holding the gun on the set. However, he maintains that he never actually pulled the trigger. Yes, he picked up the gun, however, he insists that the gun went off without him pulling it. This was the reason that the gun testing was so crucial to his case.

6. Alec Baldwin doesn't show up to court again

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For the second time, Alec Baldwin chose not to show up to court or appear in person before the court. Just hours prior to a virtual meeting before the court taking place in regard to a hearing involving the Halyna Hutchin's case he used his rights and requested a waiver so that he would not have to appear publicly in court. The waiver was granted by the court.

7. Reed, did not choose to waive her right

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On the other hand, Hanna Gutierrez-Reed decided not to waive her right and instead appeared before the court (online via Google Meets) for the hearing. The hearing announced that she could not handle a gun during the case. But, due to her lawyers argument of her need for self defence against a stalker, she will be allowed to possess one at home.

8. The charges were recently amended

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Alec Baldwin and Hanna Gutiérrez-Reed face various different fines as well as 18 months in jail. But, the original charges were more severe. The initial charges which were originally in place included 5 years of jail time if either of them were found guilty. However, it was amended by the DA who retracted it after protests from lawyers who argued that it wasn't in line with the constitution, and so it was removed as of last month.

9. His plea is NOT guilty

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Alec Baldwin had entered into a plea of not guilty. Reed has not entered an official plea. But, both defendants denied criminal negligence. And Baldwin has denied that he had a responsibility to know that the gun was loaded after trusting those in charge. He denied his charge, and hopes for a not guilty verdict.

10. What the prosecutors will say

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The prosecutors of the case are going to argue that Baldwin was distracted when he was training with the firearms, and therefore unable to use it in a safe way. They will further argue that he shouldn't have had the gun pointing towards her in the first place, and that as a producer, they will claim that he failed to enforce safety on set.

11. What experts think of the charges

 

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Many experts do not think that the prosecutors have enough to make these kinds of claims. Especially considering the circumstances, in which Baldwin was handed the gun by somebody else who was responsible for the weapon, and the gun should have been checked by various people before it was handed to Baldwin.

12. The firearm evidence was destroyed by the state

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The remaining internal fragments of the gun were destroyed when they were sent for further testing. According to the FBI the gun was working normally before it was sent for testing. After testing the gun could no longer be used in evidence. Baldwin's lawyer Spiro claims that this could be an issue in his case.

13. The DA claim that this is not true

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Just a few hours ago, the DA have contradicted Baldwin's defense lawyer's claim that the gun was destroyed. In fact, they believe that the gun in fact exists and can indeed be used as evidence. In fact they called the defense's statement 'unexpected'.

14. The preliminary hearing

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The preliminary hearing has announced that it will take place on May 3, this year of 2023. Prosecutors have announced that they have around 46 witnesses, however the defense have claimed not all these witnesses will be allowed. Both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will attend in person before the court.

15. The director's guilty plea

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The assistant Director David Halls signed an agreement where he pled guilty to the charges of misdemeanour of negligence when it came to using a lethal weapon. David Halls, who allegedly passed the gun to Baldwin also claims he never did. He has agreed to the charges of petty demeanour. He is serving unobserved probation and paid a $500 fine.

16. The Hutchins family supports the charges

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The Hutchins family are reeling from loss and devastation. Understandably, they want to come to some sort of conclusion on what happened, how and why. They support the charges made against Baldwin. Their representative claims that there is some justice in the fact that nobody is above the law.

17. How did it all happen

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The gun had supposedly been checked thoroughly, and was ready to be used on set. So, David Halls had passed the gun to Baldwin. The gun was supposed to be a prop, with blanks in it for firing, it was never intended to be a real and loaded gun. This was discovered during the search warrant by Santa Fe's County Sheriff's Office.

18. What did Baldwin do?

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Baldwin was rehearsing a scene with the gun, and so David Halls gave Baldwin the gun. Halls then shouted 'cold gun' to give the go ahead and signal that the gun was a safe prop to use for the scene. Baldwin assumed that the gun was safe when he picked it up.

19. Too many elements to the story

Image source: The Hollywood Reporter

According to Reid Russel, the cameraman, he was completely unaware that the gun had not been checked before it was handed over to the actor. There are many different components to the story which will have to be properly unpacked during the court case.

20. The gun shot

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It was initially claimed in a report that there were two shots fired before the third and final, fatal gun shot. According to the report, these first two gun shots never injured anybody on set. However, the authorities have since claimed that it was the gun shot that killed Hutchins that also injured the director Joel Souza. The gun hit Halyna Hutchins in the chest, which also hit Joel Souza standing behind her at the time.

21. The evidence of the tragedy

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After the tragedy had happened, investigations started. Things from the set were seized, including the bloodied costume of Alec Baldwin. The weapon of course was also taken. Items of other people working on the production were also taken amongst Baldwin as this tragic incident involved many people, not just one, and it was not yet known who was involved.

22. Baldwin's reaction

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Alec Baldwin was shaken by grief, guilt and sadness at the terrible incident. He posted on Twitter: ''There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother, and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred.''

This is the statement that Baldwin released just a few days after Hutchins death.

23. The District Attorney slammed celebrities 'with fancy attorneys'

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Due to the fact that Baldwin's lawyers had his potential 5 year stint in prison removed, the DA slammed him as a celebrity with a fancy attorney. Because the enhancement firearm law came in after the date of the tragedy, his lawyers argued that it could not be applied to an event which happened previous. The argument got the charge thrown out, but the DA were not happy about the result.

24. Baldwin had faced severe backlash

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Baldwin, as a result of Halyna Hutchins's tragic death has faced severe backlash and scrutiny from all over the world. The media have hounded him, and he has been severely trolled online on social media. As a result, he has had to take a break as people are blaming him for the death and calling him a killer.

25. Hannah Gutiérrez-Reed was inexperienced

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Hanna Gutiérrez-Reed, as we know, is also being charged with involuntary manslaughter. As the armorer, she has been investigated for hose she dealt with the gun. People are claiming that she was actually inexperienced and other members of the team on set have claimed her handling of the firearms in set were inadequate.

26. Halyna Hutchin's family

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Halyna Hutchins was a wife and a mother. She had a nine year old boy. Her husband Matthew Hutchins had been deeply affected by her death and released a statement saying his wife was ''a beautiful soul who was loved by many''. 

He expressed his gratitude tot he response and kindness of people.

27. Their law suit

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The family understandably want to find some kind of justice or peace from what has happened by finding who were the people responsible. They filed lawsuits against multiple people involved in the movie, including Alec Baldwin. The lawsuit files negligence and wrongful death.

28. Alec Baldwin withdrew from public life

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Baldwin had no intention or knowledge of what would happen on this terrible day. Baldwin has struggles immensely to cope with what happened to Halyna Hutchins's as he was the person holding the gun which killed her. He withdrew from public life, as he struggled to cope with what had happened.

29. He was heartbroken and feared for his family

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In an interview he expressed his deep shock and remorse for what had happened and opened up about how he was heartbroken over the death of Halyna Hutchins. He was deeply concerned with Halyna's family as well as his own. He feared that the incident had taken a huge toll on his own family who were also struggling to deal with what happened.

30. The effect on Hollywood

Image source: The Hollywood Reporter

As a result, Hollywood will have to change the way live ammunition is handled on set. In fact, people are concerned about what this will mean for the film industry. There are new laws which are in place as a result of this tragedy, to help to stop it ever happening again.