Alec Baldwin could soon face charges for role in fatal ‘Rust’ shooting: DA
( NYPost )
Alec Baldwin could soon face criminal charges for allegedly firing the round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” as the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office prepares to release its final investigative report on the shooting, according to reports.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies filed an emergency request for more than $600,000 from New Mexico’s Board of Finance so her office would have the funds necessary to prosecute up to four people in connection with the incident, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
She didn’t disclose who those four people are but noted in the request “one of the possible defendants is well known movie actor Alec Baldwin” and the prosecution could require up to four separate jury trials, the outlet reported, citing a copy of the document.
During a finance board meeting on Tuesday, Carmack-Altwies said her office has been awaiting FBI reports, phones, phone reports and interviews for “the last year” but the sheriff’s office’s final report is expected within a week, KOB 4 reported.
Once the report is received, her office would be ready to move forward with criminal charges against those involved, if it decides to do that, the outlet said.
Baldwin has repeatedly denied firing the gun, which had been in his hands during a rehearsal last October, and said it went off accidentally. But a recent FBI forensic report concluded the firearm couldn’t have gone off unless someone pulled the trigger.
When asked by the Santa Fe New Mexican what specific charges could be brought, Carmack-Altwies said her office’s attorneys are “certainly looking at all the homicide statutes and any gun statutes under New Mexico criminal code.”
During the Tuesday meeting, she explained what her office needed the funds for.
“We need an almost full-time attorney and someone who is very experienced on complex cases, and very experienced with litigation,” Carmack-Altwies said, according to KOB 4.
“Additionally, that person will then need paralegal support staff, potentially an investigator to follow up on missing pieces or finding witnesses, what have you.”
The prosecutor noted the funds would also be used to pay for expert witnesses and a public information officer to field media requests on the case.
“Our PIO right now is also a working attorney in our office,” Carmack-Altwies said. “We do not have the capacity to handle those requests to answer emails, or even read them, and so that is why we have asked for this budget.”
The state finance board ultimately awarded the office $317,000 — about half of what it had sought.
The office will request a special appropriation for the rest of the money, Carmack-Altwies told the Santa Fe New Mexican.