Alec Baldwin could still be charged with the accidental murder of cameraman Halina Hutchins in October, sheriffs revealed Tuesday morning after releasing numerous documents and videos from the investigation of the incident on the set.
The 64-year-old Baldwin was rehearsing a scene for the movie Rust on October 21, 2021, when he pulled his gun out of his suit. It shot and shot the 42-year-old Hutchins in the armpit, fatally wounding her.
The pistol fired a live cartridge, which was loaded into what Baldwin thought was an empty pistol.
No one has been blamed for the incident so far, but Santa Fe County Sheriff Aden Mendoza suggested on Tuesday morning that charges could still be filed.
Appearing at Good Morning America on Tuesday, Sheriff Mendoza said Baldwin was unclear because he was the one who handled the weapon.
“He was the one who handled the weapon that fired the cartridge that led to his death.
“We will work with the prosecutor’s office to determine whether there is criminal negligence or criminal charges. We know to some extent who has not done his job here. That was one of the key issues, “he said.
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In a new video released Monday night, Alec Baldwin was shown on his wife Hilaria’s phone before being questioned about the fatal shooting of Halina Hutchins. He asked her to fly to New Mexico from New York, but she told him she “doesn’t think it’s a great idea.”
Appearing at Good Morning America on Tuesday, Sheriff Mendoza said Baldwin was unaware because he was the one who handled the weapon.
He added that “no one” has yet admitted that he brought the rounds live to the set.
Gunsmith Hanna Gutierrez-Reid, who is in charge of the weapons, has repeatedly said through lawyers that she is not guilty.
Hutchins was photographed before her death in October 2021. The Ukrainian-born cameraman was a married mother of one child
“There was at least one live cartridge on the set that was fired from the weapon. These are two separate investigations.
“There was complacency, disorganization, they didn’t stick to the right safety protocols and industry standards, to be honest.
“There was a degree of neglect – whether this neglect reaches a criminal standard that will have to be determined by the district attorney,” added Sheriff Mendoza.
His remarks came when more footage of Baldwin appeared on the day of the shooting.
In one video, he appears in the Santa Fe sheriff’s office before being interviewed, ostensibly over the phone, with his wife, Hilaria.
You can hear the actor asking her to fly from their home in New York to New Mexico to be with him.
‘Can you hear me? Can you hear me? I’m at the police station. How is everyone at home?
‘How are the kids? Are you sure you don’t want to come tomorrow?
She replied: “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Call me after you talk to the sheriff, but I don’t think it’s a great idea.
He replied: “Just to be clear. They will make me stay here anyway.
Baldwin was somewhat calm but confused throughout the interview, telling the two women deputy sheriffs that he had “never heard of such a thing.” At one point, he drew a diagram of where he stood and where Halina was
The video, shot by the production’s cameras, shows Baldwin in a full suit, sitting on a church bench, pulling his support pistol from his vest.
Baldwin goes to draw his gun during a rehearsal on the movie scene on October 21 last year
The data files released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office include video of investigators questioning Baldwin within hours of the fatal shooting, talking to him in a compact office
Alec Baldwin’s hands were photographed on the spot before he was questioned
In these two photos, Alec Baldwin is shown on the set of the film, raising his hands after the incident
Then, holding the phone to his ear, he said, “I don’t want to make this movie anymore, I don’t. I don’t want to be a public figure. I’m the one holding the gun in my hand that everyone had to take care of.
“They always hand me a cold gun.”
He then seemed to ask his wife about her whereabouts, asking, “Where are you now? Michelle who? And where are you? I’ll call you when I’m done, okay?
Then the actor FaceTimes someone who seems to work for his family.
His first question was, “Where are the children?” The woman on the other end of the conversation told him they were asleep. He then relayed the conversation he had with Hilaria.
“I’m trying to persuade her to come here,” he said. He then asked the woman if the paparazzi were out of the house in New York. She said no.
“You have no idea how amazing this is and how strange it is,” the actor said.
Two sheriff’s investigators then entered the room and began a 30-minute interview with him, where he described how the crew had always given him a cold weapon.
The sheriff’s office also released dozens of text messages and emails to and from Dave Halls, the film’s assistant director, on Monday.
Assistant Director Dave Halls gives a DNA sample on October 21 after the fatal shooting of Halina Hutchins
Assistant Director Dave Halls gives fingerprints on October 21 after the fatal shooting of Halina Hutchins
Three days after the shooting, Dave Halls received these texts warning him that Baldwin and the producers were trying to buy him back for the incident.
These reports show his friends and confidants warning him that Baldwin’s “PR machine” is “exaggerating” in an attempt to blame him for the tragedy.
A message written to Halls by a friend named Julie Burris reads: “Everyone seems to be striving for their 15 minutes of fame and the AB PR team is exaggerating, trying to shift the blame from themselves to a worker bee that doesn’t makes it. I have no money or power to refute any of this.
“I think you need to discuss this aspect carefully with your lawyer, because the most important thing right now is to make sure that no criminal charges have been brought against you – and what is the statement of the sheriff’s office? [sic] actually says. And then, after the fact, decide which person (s) and / or news outlets you can judge for defamation / defamation / defamation. ”
The first part of her message deals with allegations by film industry insiders and people who have previously worked with Halls that he ignores the safety breaches of other film sets.
In other interviews, gunman Hannah Gutierrez-Reid told cops that she was the one who “loaded the weapons and handed them over to the actors.”
In another statement the same day, Burris told Halls: “All this tells me, in my opinion, that people with money and power are using you as a scapegoat, knowing that you cannot afford to fight the press for bills and that in general they don’t care about you. Note that I don’t see much of AB in the press and I haven’t heard of any of the production team. Not one thing.
Halls was filmed giving investigators a DNA swab and his fingerprints in one of the interviews.
Of all the people involved in the shooting, he said at least in the six months since it happened.
Gutierrez-Reid, the 24-year-old gunwoman, has repeatedly issued statements protesting her innocence. She said she was overwhelmed on the set.
Footage from the body’s camera, which appeared yesterday, shows her telling police that she is worried that her career has ended as a result of the accident.
In her own police interview, she told investigators: “I check the weapons, load the weapons and hand over the weapons to the actor.”
“We went to film, we had the weapons on the set. I connected the weapons to the fake cartridges. Nothing happened and then we came back from lunch and … ”
At one point, Hutchins’ top layer of clothing was removed to help paramedics work to save her.
Hutchins was also filmed being taken out of the church in a wheelchair while given oxygen before being taken to a medical dust helicopter and taken out into the air.
Medical materials dumped in the church after the fatal shooting
Crime scene photos show blood gauze at the scene, which was used by paramedics before Hutchins was taken away.
Bloody handkerchiefs and an inscription with a dirty footprint on it inside the church
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