Alec Baldwin May Not Have Pulled The Trigger On The 'Rust' Gun After All
By Kristin Myers on April 21, 2023 at 6:30 PM EDT
Actor Alec Baldwin may not have pulled the trigger on the gun used in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the "Rust" set in October 2021.
A new bombshell report from the L.A. Times found that the weapon had a modified trigger, which means the gun could have gone off without Baldwin pulling the trigger.
New Report Shows Alec Baldwin May Not Have Pulled The Trigger In Fatal 'Rust' Shooting
Only one day after the charges were dropped against Alec Baldwin, a new report from the L.A. Times showed that the gun used on set had a modified trigger and had the potential to go off without the trigger being pulled.
However, this is at odds with what a prior FBI ballistics report had concluded. The report stated that the gun “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger” with the hammer in the quarter and half-cock positions. With the hammer fully cocked, the FBI says the firearm “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional.”
The L.A. Times reported that the replica vintage weapon was a modified Colt .45 revolver. The modifications that were made to the gun increased the odds that the gun could have misfired and might have played a key role in the prosecutor's decision to release Baldwin from criminal charges pending further investigation.
One source told ABC News that investigators found the gun Baldwin was holding was "mechanically improper." Investigators reportedly found worn joints on the gun and claimed that the trigger control was not functioning properly when analyzed.
The preliminary hearing for the trial was scheduled to start on May 3; however, special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis felt that they could not prepare enough evidence to prosecute both Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed after only joining the case last month.
“We cannot proceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing form,” they said in a statement on Thursday night. “We therefore will be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin to conduct further investigation. This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled.”
Baldwin Insists That He Never Pulled The Trigger On The Set Of 'Rust'
On Thursday, December 2, 2021, not even two months after the shooting, Alec Baldwin took part in an exclusive interview with news anchor George Stephanopoulos. At the beginning of a teaser clip, Baldwin became emotional when talking about the late Halyna Hutchins.
“She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with [her], and liked by everyone who worked with [her], and admired,” Baldwin said. “I mean, even now… I find it hard to believe that [it happened]. It just doesn’t seem real to me.”
At one point in the interview, Stephanopoulos notes, “It wasn’t in the script for the trigger to be pulled.”
“Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled,” Baldwin responds. “I didn’t pull the trigger.”
Stephanopoulos asks, “So you never pulled the trigger?”
“No, no, no, no,” Baldwin answers. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never.”
Stephanopoulos also asks, “How did a real bullet get on that set?”
“I have no idea,” Baldwin replies. “Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
Despite a lengthy investigation from Santa Fe law enforcement that generated a 551-page police report, officials are still not sure how live ammunition ended up on a movie set.
Former Federal Prosecutor Says 'Rust' Trial Was 'Botched From The Get-Go'
Los Angeles entertainment attorney Tre Lovell told the L.A. Times that the film industry would probably be relieved that the charges against the "30 Rock" actor were dropped, considering even SAG-AFTRA came to Baldwin's defense after the charges were filed against him in January.
“Every time an actor is doing a scene, driving a car, handling a firearm ... the mere fact that if there’s a serious injury, he or she could be criminally charged, it would have changed the industry,” Lovell said. “The second you start requiring an actor or actress to have to make sure whatever they’re using is safe, you’re putting it in the hands of a nonexpert and you’re making them do other things that he or she wasn’t hired to do.”
Los Angeles-based trial attorney and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said, “This case has been botched from the get-go,” adding, “It’s probably one of the worst prosecutions I’ve ever seen in more than 20 years of practice.”
