Actor Alec Baldwin was allegedly “engaged in horseplay with his gun” and “fired a blank round at a crew member” prior to the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injury of director Joel Souza on the Rust film set, according to a new court filing.
Prosecutors are examining how the actor “flouted security protocols” leading up to the death of Hutchins.
His trial is slated to start in a few weeks on July 9 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In the court filing, it said he “displayed erratic and aggressive behavior during the filming of Rust that created potential safety concerns.”
The filing went on to describe how he “displayed reckless behavior as it related to the use of a firearm, such as pointing it and firing a blank round at a crew member while using that crew member as a line of site as his perceived target.”
The prosecution plans to show other examples of how Baldwin violated safety rules by rushing the film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed “to reload and crew members to work at a faster pace.”
The 26-year-old armorer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in April and sentenced to 18 months in prison, the maximum possible punishment.
Other claims in the court filing said that Baldwin was distracted during firearms training because he was talking to his family on FaceTime.
The court document said he “was inattentive during the firearms training conducted by Ms. Gutierrez and was distracted by texting/face timing family members and making videos for his family’s enjoyment.”
As news broke of the new court filing on Tuesday, Baldwin’s wife, Hilaria, was seen grabbing coffee in New York City and smiling at photographers.
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Baldwin recently announced the launch of a new reality show on TLC that will feature him and his family starting in 2025.
If convicted, Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty, could face up to 1 1/2 years in prison on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
