London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

All criminal charges against Alec Baldwin in Rust film set shooting ‘are dismissed’

All criminal charges against Alec Baldwin in Rust film set shooting ‘are dismissed’

Baldwin’s lawyers said they are ‘pleased with the decision’ and ‘encourage a proper investigation’

The case against Alec Baldwin following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been formally dismissed by New Mexico prosecutors.

The Hollywood actor faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting, which occurred on the set of the Rust movie in October 2021.

A statement from prosecutors, shared with the PA news agency, said they were unable to proceed with the case due to time constraints and on evidence turned over by law enforcement “in its existing form”.

“We therefore will be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr Baldwin to conduct further investigation,” the statement read.

“This decision does not absolve Mr Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled. Our follow-up investigation will remain active and on-going.”

The statement added that charges against Rust’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed remained unchanged.

A statement from Baldwin’s attorneys said: “We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident.”


Baldwin had pleaded not guilty to both charges.

The announcement comes less than two weeks before a preliminary hearing in the case, where it was to be determined whether there was enough evidence to take it to trial.

Baldwin and the film’s weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were both charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting.

The actor, 65, was pointing a pistol at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when the gun when off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

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

The case against Baldwin had already been diminishing. A weapons charge that would have meant a much longer sentence had already been dismissed, and the first special prosecutor in the case resigned.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the charge against Gutierrez-Reed would also be dropped.

The charges against Baldwin had marked a stunning fall for an A-list actor whose 40-year career included the early blockbuster The Hunt for Red October and a starring role in the sitcom 30 Rock, as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and a film adaptation of David Mamet’s Glengary Glen Ross.

In recent years, he was known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.

Rust safety coordinator and assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest in March to a conviction for unsafe handling of a firearm and a suspended sentence of six months of probation.

Earlier on Thursday it was reported that production on the Rust movie was resuming in the US state of Montana, 18 months after the fatal shooting.

Filming will resume at Montana’s Yellowstone Film Ranch set, according to Melina Spadone, a lawyer for Rust Movie Productions.

The legal representative also stressed that all use of working weapons or ammunition is, “and always has been”, prohibited on set.

In a statement, Spadone said: “The production will continue to utilise union crew members and will bar any use of working weapons and any form of ammunition.”

In October, Baldwin settled a lawsuit with the cinematographer’s husband, Matt Hutchins, under which filming would restart with the same actors and director, Joel Souza, who was wounded in the 2021 shooting.

Under the settlement, Hutchins became an executive producer on the movie. Mr Souza has said he will return to directing “Rust” production to honor the legacy of Halyna Hutchins.

After a scathing safety review by regulators in New Mexico that detailed ignored complaints and misfires before Hutchins’ death in October of 2021, the production company agreed to pay a $100,000 fine (£80,375).

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×