Santa Fe DA Refutes Alec Baldwin’s Claim He Won’t Be Charged: ‘Certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust’
Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies put Alec Baldwin on notice after the Hollywood actor said it was ‘highly unlikely’ he would face criminal charges in the shooting death on his movie ‘Rust.’
Baldwin made the claim in a highly unusual interview with ABC and Carmack-Altwies wasted no time rebuking Baldwin saying that “certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust.”
She said she will “exercise my prosecutorial discretion to its fullest, including filing charges that are supported by probable cause,” before adding she is “exploring various legal theories at the time.”
She said:
“Everyone involved in the handling and use of firearms on the set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected, and it appears that certain actions and inactions contributed to this outcome.
“As the First Judicial District Attorney, I have not made a decision to charge or not charge any individuals involved in the shooting that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins and injury of Joel Souza.
“Once I have had the opportunity to review the complete investigation, certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust,” she said.
Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza said:
“Guns don’t just go off.
“So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that, and it was in his hands.”
From Variety:
Baldwin gave an in-depth interview to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, in which he explained in some detail why he does not believe he is responsible for the Oct. 21 shooting that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Baldwin was holding the Colt .45 revolver, which he believed was “cold,” meaning it contained only dummy rounds. He said he aimed it toward Hutchins because she was trying to get a particular camera angle. As he did so, he said he pulled the hammer back to cock it, and let go of the hammer and the gun went off. He said he did not pull the trigger, and was stunned to realize, only much later, that the gun contained a live round.
Baldwin said he had been informed by “people in the know” that it was “highly unlikely” that he would be charged.
FULL INTERVIEW: Santa Fe County DA Mary Carmack-Altwies joins @LlamasNBC to discuss the latest in the "Rust" investigation.
— Top Story with Tom Llamas (@TopStoryNBC) October 28, 2021
On reports of complacency on set: "Certain things that obviously should not have happened did happen and we're going to get to the bottom of that." pic.twitter.com/XWMY4y7fQm
"Everyone involved in handling and use of firearms on Rust film set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected, it appears certain actions and inactions contributed to this outcome" Santa Fe County DA Mary Carmack-Altwiespic.twitter.com/pBHfkrt0Ro
— 🌈 (@MagicZoetrope) December 4, 2021