The New Mexico district attorney investigating the shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin’s movie, “Rust,” has taken issue with a claim Baldwin made last week that he is not likely to face charges in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, of New Mexico’s First Judicial District, said no one is in the clear, according to published reports.
“Certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of ‘Rust,’” she said according to TMZ.
Carmack-Altwies said she will “exercise my prosecutorial discretion to its fullest, including filing charges that are supported by probable cause,” Deadline reported.
The DA’s office 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,” Carmack-Altwies said, according to Deadline.
“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,” Carmack-Altwies said.
Alec Baldwin’s PR team is paying a lot of money to flood the zone with his magic gun theory. pic.twitter.com/vvWU1GDfgf
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 2, 2021
Baldwin offered his account of what happened in an interview with ABC, according to Reuters.
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“I feel someone is responsible for what happened, but I know it isn’t me. I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don’t say that lightly,” Baldwin said.
“I’ve been told by people in the know… that it is highly unlikely I would be charged with anything criminally,” he said.
Baldwin said he did not check the gun to see if it held a live round.
Assistant Director Dave Halls said the gun was”cold,” meaning it had no live rounds, before handing it to Baldwin, according to an affidavit reported by The New York Times.
Baldwin said he never pulled the trigger of the gun that fired the fatal shot.
“I let go of the hammer of the gun and it goes off,” he said.
Alec Baldwin releasing the hammer on a vintage gun is the same as pulling the trigger.
— Randy Quaid (@RandyRRQuaid) December 3, 2021
The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department has said the FBI will provide information as to how the gun fired.
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“Guns don’t just go off,” Sheriff Adan Mendoza told Fox News Digital last week. “So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that, and it was in his hands.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
