Alec Baldwin breaks silence as Hollywood star to fight ‘horrible miscarriage of justice’ | US | News

Alec Baldwin is planning to fight the charges against him, with his lawyer insisting: “We will win”. Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the movie set of Rust.

Baldwin’s lawyers responded to the decision to charge with a statement, saying: “This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice”. 

The actor’s lawyer Luke Nikas told the New York Post that Baldwin was “blindsided” by the charges, which he learned about through the media. 

He said: “Mr Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set. 

“He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds”.

“We will fight these charges, and we will win”, he added. 

Baldwin, 64, accidentally killed Ms Hutchin after firing a prop gun, which was loaded with a real bullet, in her direction during the filming of the project in New Mexico in October 2021. 

The bullet struck director Joel Souza in the shoulder before fatally striking the cinematographer mum-of-one in the chest.

Two other people are also facing charges over the accidental shooting including assistant director David Halls and film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, New Mexico prosecutors announced on Thursday.

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Halls, who handed Baldwin the loaded gun, has agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, while Reed, like Baldwin, has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors told several media outlets it was part of industry standards for actors to check that firearms were safe to handle and to follow basic gun rules such as not pointing weapons at people.

Baldwin has pushed back at that idea, saying firearm safety was the responsibility of the armourer and the first director and that he was instructed to aim the pistol at the cinematographer.

The armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who is in charge of weapons on film sets, is facing the same charges as Baldwin and also denies responsibility. 

Her lawyer Jason Bowles said: “Hannah is, and has always been, very emotional and sad about this tragic accident. But she did not commit involuntary manslaughter.”

Bowles called the charges a “result of a very flawed investigation, and an inaccurate understanding of the full facts.”

They will both appear in court where the jury will decide if they are guilty and, if so, which of the two counts they are guilty of. 

One of the felony charges holds a maximum prison sentence of 18 months, while the other carries a weapons enhancement mandating a five-year sentence.