Actor is due to go to trial over death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed on set of Rust

Fewer than three weeks before actor Alec Baldwin is due to go on trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, prosecutors have said that he “engaged in horseplay with the revolver”, including firing a blank round at a crew member on the set of Rust before the tragic accident occurred.

Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

In new court documents, prosecutors said they plan to bring new evidence to support their case that the 66-year-old actor and producer was reckless with firearms while filming on the set and displayed “erratic and aggressive behavior during the filming” that created potential safety concerns.

Prosecutors in the case, which is due to go to trial on 10 July, have previously alleged that to watch Baldwin’s conduct on the set of Rust “is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct affects those around him”.

In the latest filing, special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Erlinda Johnson allege that Baldwin pointed his gun and fired “a blank round at a crew member while using that crew member as a line of site as his perceived target”.

  • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
    151·
    10 days ago

    Ok but that’s a separate issue and something that can happen with a regular gun loaded with a regular caliber blank, what they’re saying is fake guns for movies should use a caliber for which no bullets exist, solving the main part of the issue, i.e. the fact that someone can load a normal bullet in a gun that is to be used as a prop.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
      11·
      10 days ago

      This would help avoid this specific death, but not most others where the projectile wasn’t an actual bullet from a live round, but something stuck in the barrel, like the other person says.

      This situation was unusual in the sense that an incompetent armorer had live rounds on set, and the gun was loaded with one.

      What I mean is that the main part of the issue is exactly not this.

      • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        21·
        10 days ago

        Did anybody ask about most others, or were we having a highly specific conversation about a very real and somewhat recent event?

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
          11·
          10 days ago

          First,

          Did anybody ask about most others,

          … doesn’t seem relevant, since saying something doesn’t require you personally asking about it at all, second,

          what they’re saying is fake guns for movies should use a caliber for which no bullets exist, solving the main part of the issue, i.e. the fact that someone can load a normal bullet in a gun that is to be used as a prop.

          … answers your question, and that quote is most of the original comment, I could even have quoted the whole of it.

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
        11·
        9 days ago

        “most others”

        Maybe I’m not paying enough attention to that, but is it really something that happens that often on movie sets where it’s something stuck in the barrel?

    • bolexforsoup@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      21·
      9 days ago

      It’s not a separate issue. It’s exactly how Brandon Lee died. It was just a piece of a bullet, not even a complete one. Lots of hard objects that can get lodged in there that instantly become a lethal projectile.

      Besides this person wants “realistic recoil.” That requires a lot of force. So it’s always a risk.

        • bolexforsoup@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          2·
          9 days ago

          That is exactly what we are saying. They should not use firearms that are capable of launching projectiles. Which is exactly what happened on the set of Rust.

          As a camera operator I have no desire to die for somebody else’s art. Especially not just because they want a more realistic looking firearm/recoil.