Prosecutors are seeking further information about the gun Alec Baldwin was wielding when he shot and killed cinematographer Halina Hutchins on the set of The Last, to determine whether to reinstate the criminal case against Alec Baldwin. Seeking inspection.
Baldwin was initially charged with manslaughter, but New Mexico prosecutors dismissed the case against him last month. They dropped the charges after evidence was presented suggesting that the gun Baldwin was rehearsing for that day had been modified to make it easier to fire unintentionally.
The old-fashioned revolver at the center of the case has already been inspected by the FBI, but on Wednesday, prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis said the court ordered it to be inspected by an outside ballistics expert. asked for approval. They wrote in court papers that they learned during their investigation that the gun’s hammer may have been intentionally modified.
“This modification appears to be related to cutouts in the internal parts of the hammer that correspond to full-cock, half-cock and quarter-cock positions,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “These notches appear to have been partially removed or milled to make them less noticeable.”
Ballistics expert Lucien Haag, who has worked as a consultant to prosecutors and defense attorneys, also asked to determine whether other firearms on set had been modified “presumably for the convenience of the actors”. Prosecutors said they would. I have written. Live ammunition and inert ammunition found at the scene, as well as gunpowder residue on Hutchins’ clothing, will also be submitted for inspection.
Baldwin has long denied responsibility for the 2021 shooting of Ms. Hutchins, claiming he was told the gun had no live ammunition and didn’t pull the trigger before firing. He said the gun fired after he pulled back his hammer and released his hand.
A lawyer for Baldwin did not immediately comment on the request for further testing.
Baldwin’s prosecutors allege, based on an FBI inspection of the gun, that the gun could only have been fired if the trigger had been pulled. But prosecutors’ claims that Baldwin was negligent on set would be complicated if the gun had been modified to make it easier to fire.
The manslaughter charge against the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is still pending. Her attorney, Jason Bowles, said she plans to plead not guilty. Bowles said Wednesday that he welcomes continued investigation into the source of the live ammunition found on set and the function of the firearm.
