Prosecutors Expected to Recharge Actor Alec Baldwin With Involuntary Manslaughter for Fatal Shooting On “Rust” Set

Alec Baldwin will likely face a charge of involuntary manslaughter for the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.

Sources close to the matter said the actor’s case will go before a grand jury sometime next month, Reuters reported.

“It is unfortunate that a terrible tragedy has been turned into this misguided prosecution. We will answer any charges in court,” Luke Nikas, an attorney for Baldwin, said in a statement.

Baldwin was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter in January for Hutchins’ death. She died in a movie-set church outside Santa Fe when a revolver Baldwin was rehearsing with discharged a live round that struck Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has denied pulling the gun’s trigger and says he is not responsible for the cinematographer’s death.

Prosecutors dismissed charges against Baldwin in April after new evidence emerged that the gun may have been modified, which may have allowed it to fire without the trigger being pulled.

However, Kari Morrissey, a special prosecutor on the case, said at the time of this dismissal that if new testing of the gun showed it was working, she would recharge Baldwin.

A second testing of the reproduction long Colt .45-caliber revolver by an independent expert showed the firearm would not fire unless the trigger was pulled, confirming previous FBI testing, the outlet reported.

Last week, a judge ordered the movie’s production company to provide prosecutors with documents, including all written agreements and contracts it had with Baldwin prior to the tragic incident.

Legal experts expect to use a grand jury, considering they are an easier means to prove probable cause and proceed to trial compared to filing a criminal complaint that defense lawyers can probe at a preliminary hearing.