According to a number of American media reports, the Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin (Alec Baldwin), who caused an accidental death at the filming scene, was dropped all the charges on April 20 local time and returned to his innocence.
In October 2021, at the shooting site of the western film "Rust", the female director of photography Halyna Hutchins (Halyna Hutchins) was shot by Alec Baldwin during the rehearsal and died after being sent to the hospital. Only 42 years old. It is obviously a prop gun used in filming, why does it shoot real bullets and kill people? For a while, all parties involved were talking about it, from Baldwin, the person involved, to Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the chief gunner of the crew who was in charge of preparing the weapons, to David Howe, the assistant director who was responsible for ensuring the safety of the scene. Si, the first time he tried to clear the suspicion, he did not admit that he knew anything.
After multiple rounds of investigations by the New Mexico State Police and the FBI, it was finally determined that the above three should bear certain culpability. In January of this year, New Mexico District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies (Mary Carmack-Altwies) formally charged Baldwin and gunman Hannah with manslaughter, and because of gun crimes, Baldwin will face the punishment , at least five years in prison.
On January 31, 2023 local time, in New York, USA, Alec Baldwin returned to his apartment. Visual China Map
In this regard, Baldwin's attorney team quickly protested, on the grounds that this additional penalty clause involving gun crimes is a new law that will only come into effect in the middle of 2022, and it does not apply to this case that occurred in October 2021. To that end, they mock Attorney Marie and her staff for committing a common-sense error in judging past crimes against future laws.
Soon, the district attorney, who realized that he had indeed made an omission, announced the withdrawal of the original charges, and only charged Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reid with ordinary manslaughter. If convicted, they face up to 18 months in prison plus a $5,000 fine. In this regard, both men argued their innocence, especially Baldwin, who has repeatedly stated through the media that he never pulled the trigger of the prop gun, although the official conclusion of the investigation given by the FBI forensic department stated that , If the trigger hadn't been pulled by someone, the bullet would never have been fired, and Hutchins would not have died unexpectedly.
Perhaps because of the use of the wrong law, in March this year, prosecutor Mary Carmack-Attwiss announced her withdrawal from the investigation of the case, and two other prosecutors stepped in to take over the case. He signed a fund appropriation order and allocated US$360,000 in follow-up funds to the District Prosecutor's Office for the investigation and prosecution of the case, which seems to show his determination to bring the culprit to justice. According to the original plan, the first preliminary trial of the case will start on May 3, and the list of witnesses with as many as 35 people has been announced to the public. Many American media have already reserved manpower and material resources, and plan to report in detail two weeks later. The trial process of this case.
Therefore, the New Mexico State Prosecutor's Office suddenly made a 180-degree turn when there were only more than ten days before the trial of the case, and directly dropped all charges against Baldwin. The charges have also been dropped -- a real surprise. As of press time, the New Mexico State Prosecutor's Office has not accepted media interviews on this issue, nor has it issued a public statement. On the other hand, Baldwin quickly responded to the matter on his personal social media account. In addition to thanking God, he also thanked his wife Hilaria and attorney Luke Nikas in particular.
So far, although theoretically speaking, the New Mexico District Attorney’s Office is still investigating the case, and if new evidence is discovered in the future, it still has the right to file new charges against those involved, including Baldwin. In reality, the possibility of this happening is obviously not great. Of course, in terms of civil trials, the producer of the film had been ordered to pay a fine of $137,000 by the New Mexico Bureau of Labor Safety earlier because of negligent management-eventually after bargaining, the fine was reduced to $100,000.
On December 1, 2022 local time, in New York, USA, Alec Baldwin attended the 2022 American Museum of Natural History Gala. Visual China Map
As for the husband of the victimized female photographer, a compensation agreement was reached with the crew and Baldwin himself in October last year. The specific amount has not been announced, but the widower Mav Hutchins has now become the executive producer of "Rust" In addition, there is a documentary about the film life of the deceased wife, which is said to be in preparation, and he is also one of the producers.
As for David House, the deputy director among the three people involved in the initial investigation, he was charged with negligence by the New Mexico State Prosecutor's Office because he failed to confirm the safety of props and guns for the second time, and was finally sentenced to six months of probation, plus 24 Hours of community service and a $500 fine, and you're fine.
It was somewhat surprising that the fire and murder incident on the set that shocked the world at the beginning ended in this way after a year and a half. Perhaps even more ironic is that, on the same day that Baldwin ushered in the "good news", "Rust", which was forced to interrupt filming due to the murder, was changed to Montana and resumed filming. From the starring Baldwin to the director and other behind-the-scenes personnel, basically nothing has changed. As for why the timing of the two—Baldwin's restoration of innocence and the film's resumption of filming—would overlap so much, whether it was a pre-existing news channel for the crew, or purely a coincidence, neither Baldwin nor the "Rust" filmmakers would like to know. Make more comments.
On March 28, 2022 local time, in Rome, Italy, Alec Baldwin sat outside a bar in Rome. This was his first return to work after the "studio manslaughter". Visual China Map
However, it may not be true to say that a tragedy has left no consequences. In fact, the reflection and impact of this incident in Hollywood have long been obvious. Take Guy Ritchie's new film "The Covenant" (The Covenant), which was released on April 21, as an example. According to the director's self-report, during the entire filming process, no real guns were used at all, but toy guns were used instead.
The British director who has filmed well-known action films such as "Two Smoking Barrels" also said that since the "Rust" incident, he has not used live ammunition again, and will continue to do so in the future. "The situation has changed a lot, and the rules of the game are different now. No real guns are needed, which is a good thing for everyone, and everyone is relieved. And the effect of shooting, toy guns are actually the same as There is no difference between a real gun, and it has all the effects it should have. Loading, firing, and ejecting, the whole process is very realistic, but no one will be injured."
"This is good for everyone. It not only ensures the freedom of creation, but also ensures the safety of everyone. After all, in this movie, there are many scenes of various gunfire." Jack Gillen, the star of "Covenant" Hal also expressed his approval of Guy Ritchie's approach in an interview.