Grand jury indicts Alec Baldwin for involuntary manslaughter in accidental 'Rust' shooting

Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin was once again indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter by New Mexico prosecutors for his alleged connection with the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The 65-year-old actor, who rose to fame in Tom Clancy’s debut 1992 film, “The Hunt for Red October” was indicted on Friday by a grand jury.

He was previously charged in the same case one year ago in January 2023.

Those charges were dropped three months later after special prosecutors could not determine whether Baldwin actually pulled the trigger, a claim he has adamantly denied.

Baldwin was holding an Old West style Colt .45 revolver that somehow fired at his co-star while the two were on set filming “Rust,” at a ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico in October 2021.

He has repeatedly said his was functioning properly when it fired, and prosecutors dropped the charges in April, saying they believed the gun had been modified before the shooting and it malfunctioned.  

But the government has now refiled the charges as the result of new tests were conducted, and ballistics experts used replacement parts to reassemble the firearm that broke during FBI testing.

Contrary to the Bureau’s initial test, which suggested the gun could have gone off without pulling the trigger if force was applied to an uncocked hammer, new tests suggested otherwise.

Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona stated that, “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.”

The armorer or weapons supervisor on the set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering. She is scheduled for trial in February.

Baldwin’s assistant director and safety coordinator, David Halls, has already pleaded no contest – a plea that does not admit guilt or profess innocence – to unsafe handling of a firearm and received probation.

He is currently cooperating with prosecutors.