SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) 鈥 A Santa Fe district attorney will announce Thursday whether charges will be brought in the fatal 2021 film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal of the Western 鈥淩ust.鈥
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said a decision will be announced Thursday morning in a statement and on social media, without public appearances by prosecutors.
鈥淭he announcement will be a solemn occasion, made in a manner keeping with the office鈥檚 commitment to upholding the integrity of the judicial process and respecting the victim鈥檚 family,鈥 said Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded by a gunshot during setup for a scene at the ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who led the initial investigation into Hutchins' death, described 鈥渁 degree of neglect鈥 on the film set. But he left decisions about potential criminal charges to prosecutors after delivering the results of a yearlong investigation in October. That report did not specify how live ammunition wound up on the film set.
Taking control of the investigation, Carmack-Altwies was granted an emergency $300,000 request for the state to pay for a special prosecutor, special investigator and other experts and personnel.
Baldwin 鈥 known for his roles in 鈥30 Rock鈥 and 鈥淭he Hunt for Red October鈥 and his impression of former President Donald Trump on 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥 鈥 has described the killing of Hutchins as a 鈥渢ragic accident.鈥
He has that was handed to him on set. Baldwin, also a co-producer on 鈥淩ust,鈥 said he was told the gun was safe.
In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while working on camera angles with Hutchins during rehearsal for a scene, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the gun, which discharged.
New Mexico鈥檚 Office of the Medical Investigator determined the shooting was an accident following the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports.
New Mexico鈥檚 Occupational Health and Safety Bureau has levied the maximum fine against Rust Movie Productions, based on a scathing narrative of safety failures, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires of blank ammunition on set prior to the fatal shooting.
Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the basis of a $137,000 fine by regulators who say production managers on the set failed to follow standard industry protocols for firearms safety.
The armorer who oversaw firearms on the set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, has been the subject of much of the scrutiny in the case, along with an independent ammunition supplier. An attorney for Gutierrez Reed has said the armorer did not put a live round in the gun that killed Hutchins, and believes she was the victim of sabotage. Authorities said they鈥檝e found no evidence of that.
Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition at the movie set on the outskirts of Santa Fe 鈥 a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds. Industry experts have said live rounds should never be on set.
In April 2022, the Santa Fe Sheriff鈥檚 Department released a trove of files including lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins slipping in and out of consciousness as an evacuation helicopter arrived. Witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, inventories of ammunition and hundreds of photographs rounded out that collection of evidence.
State workplace safety regulators said that immediate gun-safety concerns were addressed when 鈥淩ust鈥 ceased filming, and that a return to filming in New Mexico would be accompanied by new safety inspections.
The family of Hutchins 鈥 widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros 鈥 settled a lawsuit against producers under an agreement that aims to restart filming with Matthew鈥檚 involvement as executive producer.
鈥淩ust鈥 was beset by disputes from the start in early October 2021. Seven crew members walked off the set just hours before the fatal shooting amid discord over working conditions.
Hutchins' death has influenced with Hollywood producers and spurred other filmmakers to minimize risks.
