(Headline USA) Actor Alec Baldwin could still face criminal charges for his role in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust last year, according to New Mexico’s district attorney.
Mary Carmack-Altweis’s office clarified this week that her investigation into the shooting is still ongoing, despite Baldwin’s settlement with Hutchins’s family.
“The proposed settlement announced today in Matthew Hutchins’s wrongful death case against ‘Rust’ movie producers, including Alec Baldwin, in the death of Halyna Hutchins will have no impact on District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis’s ongoing investigation or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case,” spokesperson Heath Brewer said in a statement, according to Fox News.
“While civil suits are settled privately and often involve financial awards, criminal cases deal only in facts. If the facts and evidence warrant criminal charges under New Mexico law then charges will be brought. No one is above the law,” she added.
Hutchins was killed on set after Baldwin fired a loaded gun during filming. Her husband, Matthew, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him and other Rust producers, alleging they failed to follow basic safety protocols that would have prevented the tragic shooting.
The two parties reached a settlement this month, with Matthew Hutchins confirming that his case against Baldwin will be dropped.
“The filming of ‘Rust,’ which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin),” he said in a statement. “All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident.”
Brewer said there is “no set timeline” for when the district attorney plans to release the findings of her investigation, and said she has not yet come to a decision “on whether to file charges.”
“Once she receives the report, the district attorney and her team of professional attorneys and investigators will carefully review all of the materials provided,” Brewer explained. “The district attorney’s priority will be upholding the integrity of the process and ensuring that, like any other case she handles, this investigation is held to the highest standards.”
