Prosecutors take over Baldwin shooting investigation | entertainment

SANTA FE, N.M. — The sheriff’s department on Thursday presented the prosecutor’s office with the results of the investigation into the October 2021 death of a cinematographer killed by Alec Baldwin on a New Mexico film set.

Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office spokesman Juan Rios said two binders of information were turned over to the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office with no recommendation for possible criminal charges.

He said the case file describes all the evidence gathered, including investigative interviews and the FBI’s forensic analysis of physical evidence. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwice said through a spokeswoman that investigators and prosecutors will now begin a thorough review to make a timely decision on whether to file charges, without mentioning a specific timeline.

Cinematographer Galina Hutchins died shortly after being shot while editing a scene for the western movie “Rust” at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on October 21, 2021. Baldwin pointed a gun at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing and injuring her. directed by Joel Souza.

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office has already released a trove of law enforcement files related to the fatal shooting, including body camera footage of the fatally wounded Hutchins, witness interviews, emails, text conversations, ammunition lists and hundreds of photos.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza described “some carelessness” on the set of “Rust,” but is leaving it up to prosecutors to decide whether to file criminal charges.

The Hutchins family—widower Matthew Hutchins and 9-year-old son Andras—recently settled a lawsuit against the producers of “Rusty” in a settlement that will resume filming with Matthew as an executive producer.

Baldwin said the gun went off accidentally and that he did not pull the trigger. But a recent FBI forensic report found that the weapon could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled.

The New Mexico Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the shooting an accident after completing an autopsy and reviewing law enforcement reports.

Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the basis of a $137,000 fine levied against the company by New Mexico occupational health and safety regulators, who allege production managers on set failed to follow standard industry firearms safety protocols. The state Occupational Safety and Health Review Board has scheduled an eight-day hearing on the disputed sanctions for April 2023.

In April, the New Mexico Bureau of Occupational Safety and Health imposed the maximum fine on Rust Movie Productions and released scathing accounts of safety violations, including testimony that production managers took little or no action to address two blank cartridge misfires on set. before death. shooting.

Rust Movie Productions told safety regulators that the misfires before Hutchins’ fatal shooting did not violate safety protocols and that “appropriate corrective actions have been taken,” including debriefing the cast and crew.

Other legal challenges persist over the film and the fatal shooting.

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