Criminal charges against Alec Baldwin in connection with the deadly shooting murder of Halyna Hutchins have been dismissed, but the actor may face additional accusations in the future.
In its lawsuit against “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the State of New Mexico employed experts Lucien Haag and Mike Haag. They decided that the Colt.45 revolver’s trigger must have been pulled “sufficiently” to produce the accident.
Baldwin claims he never fired the trigger, although the replica gun was in his hand when Hutchins was slain. In January 2023, the Santa Fe County District Attorney’s Office charged Baldwin with two charges of involuntary manslaughter. In April, the accusations were dropped without prejudice.
“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,” the firearms report obtained by People said. “This fatal incident was the consequence of the hammer being manually retracted to its fully rearward and cocked position followed, at some point, by the pull or rearward depression of the trigger.”
The incident “severely damaged the full-cock step on the hammer, the top of the trigger’s sear was broken off, and the bolt (cylinder stop) was also broken,” according to the report. Nonetheless, there was no mention of “any modification to the gun.”
According to the site, prosecutors already said in June that the “30 Rock” star could face charges in the future.
“The gun and broken sear have been sent to the state’s independent expert for further testing. The charges against Alec Baldwin were dismissed without prejudice because a possible malfunction of the gun significantly affects causation with regard to Baldwin, not with regard to Gutierrez. If it is determined that the gun did not malfunction, charges against Mr. Baldwin will proceed,” they wrote at the time.
Baldwin has maintained since the incident occurred in 2021 that he did not pull the trigger and claimed the firearm malfunctioned.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled,” he said during an interview in December 2021. “I didn’t pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at someone and pull the trigger on them, never.”
