- cross-posted to:
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A new report into the fatal shooting on the set of the movie Rust appears to cast doubt over star and producer Alec Baldwin’s accounts of events.
Mr Baldwin denies pulling the trigger of the prop gun which went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Weapons experts have now said the trigger would have “had to be pulled”.
The actor’s representatives told the PA news agency they had no comment to make on the latest development in the ongoing case.
Charges of involuntary manslaughter against Mr Baldwin were dropped in April, but prosecutors said it did not “absolve Mr Baldwin of criminal culpability”.
They said charges against the star could be refiled over the October 2021 shooting, which occurred on the set of the western movie.
A new report, written by weapons experts Lucien Haag and Mike Haag, was given prosecutors in New Mexico on Tuesday.
According to the documents, prosecutors previously stated that they had information that there had been an alleged modification of the gun used by Baldwin on the Rust set.
Lawyers for Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, said the Haags’ report “does not indicate any modification to the gun” and “specifies that the trigger had to be pulled”.
“Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, 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,” said an excerpt of the weapons report included in the court documents.
“If the hammer had not been fully retracted to the rear, and were to slip from the handler’s thumb without the trigger depressed, the half cock or quarter cock notches in the hammer should have prevented the firing pin from reaching any cartridge in the firing chamber.”
It continued: “If these features were somehow bypassed, a conspicuously off-centre firing pin impression would result.”
Last week, Ms Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering charges, related to the shooting.
Her plea came ahead of a jury trial scheduled for 6 December looking into the death of Ms Hutchins at the age of 42.
It is not yet clear whether or not the findings of the new report will result in charges against Mr Baldwin being refiled.
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I don’t really get how it’s relevant. It was supposed to be blanks, he would have to pull the trigger for the movie scene, right? The person that modified and put real bullets in is the culprit regardless imo.
Yes, but uninformed people like to focus on what they think is the most obvious part and ignore the context which requires critical thinking. The news just gives the masses what they want, contextless focus on ‘obvious’ things that provoke a reaction.
I’m not defending Baldwin and this is sort of beside the point because I think that he either misremembered or is lying his face off, but shouldn’t the argument be that the gun should NOT have been loaded? Actors probably have to pull back the trigger on prop guns all the time and it’s the armorer that’s responsible for the overall safety of the weapons.
Yes. He was rehearsing with what should have been a safe prop and it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things whether he pulled the trigger or not.
The real problem is that the gun safety on set was terrible, people knew it, and as both a producer and a person with a lot of influence he shares responsibility for the bullet exiting the gun even if it had been in someone else’s hand.
I just can not fucking believe they continued filming that movie and will release it, totally fucked up.
If you accidentally kill someone it’s natural for your mind to find exculpatory reasons why it’s not your fault. You see it with accounts from conscripted soldiers in war, for example. He very likely genuinely believes he didn’t pull the trigger.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A new report into the fatal shooting on the set of the movie Rust appears to cast doubt over star and producer Alec Baldwin’s accounts of events.
The actor’s representatives told the PA news agency they had no comment to make on the latest development in the ongoing case.
According to the documents, prosecutors previously stated that they had information that there had been an alleged modification of the gun used by Baldwin on the Rust set.
Lawyers for Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, said the Haags’ report “does not indicate any modification to the gun” and “specifies that the trigger had to be pulled”.
“Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, 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,” said an excerpt of the weapons report included in the court documents.
Last week, Ms Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering charges, related to the shooting.
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Weapons experts have now said the trigger would have “had to be pulled”.
The relevant people will never read this, but “I told you so.”