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Alec Baldwin Is Indicted...Again

Mia Cathell
Mia Cathell  |  January 19, 2024 5:15 PM

Maybe he won't get away with it after all.

Hollywood star Alec Baldwin is set to head to trial over the October 21, 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after a New Mexico grand jury indicted the A-list actor Friday on one count of involuntary manslaughter.

The decision to indict Baldwin again was announced after members of the grand jury heard evidence in a closed-door hearing presented by special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis. According to the one-page indictment, the grand jury indicted Baldwin on a charge of "Involuntary Manslaughter (Neglect Use of a Firearm)" but also offered an "alternative" charge of "Involuntary Manslaughter (Without Due Caution or Circumspection)" that could be used instead.

The dormant case's revival follows a new analysis that was performed on the gun Baldwin used in the fatal shooting (via AP):

The analysis from experts in ballistics and forensic testing relied on replacement parts to reassemble the gun fired by Baldwin, after parts of the pistol were broken during testing by the FBI. The report examined the gun and markings it left on a spent cartridge to conclude that the trigger had to have been pulled or depressed.

The analysis led by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona stated that although Baldwin repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, "given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver."

[...]

An earlier FBI report on the agency's analysis of the gun found that, as is common with firearms of that design, it could go off without pulling the trigger if force was applied to an uncocked hammer, such as by dropping the weapon.

The only way the testers could get it to fire was by striking the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked. The gun eventually broke during testing.

If convicted, Baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison. A date for Baldwin's trial has not yet been set.

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"We look forward to our day in court," said Baldwin's attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro of the Quinn Emanuel law firm.

In October, two sources told NBC News that Baldwin and the special prosecutors were in talks about him taking a plea deal, but the offer was rescinded in the days preceding the prosecution's announcement to bring the criminal case before a grand jury.

The indictment comes after the state previously dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin back in April, saying that "new facts" surfaced that require "further investigation" and additional forensic analysis. "Consequently, we cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form," the prosecutors said at the time, adding that charges may be refiled and it does not "absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability."

Hutchins was killed by Baldwin firing a live round of ammunition from his prop gun on the Santa Fe-area set of his Western film "Rust." Baldwin, the lead actor starring and co-producing the movie, was pointing a Colt .45 revolver mid-rehearsal when the gun went off, killing Hutchins, a married mother-of-one, and wounding director Joel Souza, according to affidavit statements released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office. Filming resumed last year at Yellowstone Ranch in Montana, with Baldwin back on set.

"I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it’s not me," Baldwin said during a sitdown interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos in December 2021, declaring that he does not feel any guilt.