Prosecutors are looking into the Rust shooting once again—a move Alec Baldwin’s legal team thinks is a bad move.
As reported by TMZ, the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday that a grand jury will be convened in the “near future” to consider whether to refile an involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin.
The actor’s attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro told the publication, “It is unfortunate that a terrible tragedy has been turned into this misguided prosecution. We will answer any charges in court.”
In early 2023, the District Attorney, Mary Carmack-Altwies, dropped the same charge against Baldwin—then stepped down from the case. Before Altwies, special prosecutor Andrea Reeb handled the case but later resigned. Baldwin’s defense team argued Reed could not serve as both a prosecutor and state lawmaker.
While the case against Baldwin and film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed—who faced the same involuntary manslaughter charge as the actor in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins—seemingly came to a close, the D.A. reserved the right to recharge them if new information came to light.
New Evidence Found Against Alec Baldwin
According to TMZ, prosecutors opted to send the case back to the grand jury after submitting the gun Baldwin used for further analysis. Previously, Baldwin claimed he never pulled the trigger.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled,” he said in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “I didn’t pull the trigger.”
“I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” he continued.
In August, a report made public confirmed that the trigger had to be pulled for the weapon to discharge. Before new evidence was found against Baldwin, his defense argued that the Colt .45 used in the incident was damaged during FBI testing in 2022.
If convicted, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed can face up to 18 months in prison.