What makes Alec Baldwin involuntary manslaughter charge unique
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Actor Alec Baldwin is facing serious legal trouble after prosecutors in New Mexico say they will charge him with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film "Rust."
Baldwin was holding the gun that went off during a rehearsal. Both Baldwin and the armorer who oversaw firearms on the set of "Rust" are being charged with involuntary manslaughter.
A Philadelphia-based criminal defense lawyer explained to CBS Philadelphia why this case is unique.
Baldwin's lawyer says they will "fight" and they will "win" after the Santa Fe district attorney announced involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the "Rust."
"What we're talking about here is not an intentional killing," CBS News legal analyst Jessica Levinson said. "We're talking about a potentially lawful act that you engage in but that you were criminally negligent."
Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will also be charged.
"Just because it is an accident doesn't mean that it's not criminal," Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.
Carmack-Altwies insists that safety was disregarded during production.
"There were live rounds on set, they were mixed in with regular dummy rounds," Carmack-Altwies said. "Nobody was checking those or least they weren't checking them consistently and they somehow got loaded in a gun and handed over to Alec Baldwin."
Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor appointed to the case, said in a statement, "If any one of these three people -- Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls -- had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It's that simple. The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the 'Rust' film set."
Prosecutors reached a plea deal with Halls for negligent use of a deadly weapon.
Baldwin maintains he didn't pull the trigger.
The Santa Fa DA says not only negligence but recklessness was behind the cinematographer's death.
"It was the totality of the circumstances," Carmack-Altwies said. "This was a really fast and loose set and that nobody was doing their job. There were three people. If they had done their job that day, this tragedy wouldn't have happened. "
Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer Fortunato Perri Jr. says this is one of the more unusual cases he's seen.
"From a defense perspective," Perri Jr. said, "they're going to have to prove that he was unaware under any circumstances that there was a live round even on set."
During an October 2021 rehearsal, Baldwin was holding the prop gun when it discharged a round, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
In a statement, the actor's attorney called the charges "a terrible miscarriage of justice," saying, "Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun -- or anywhere on the movie set."
"I think you're probably looking at, again you have to look at the facts of the case," Perri Jr. said, "but he's certainly exposed to a couple of years in jail."
An attorney for Guiterrez-Reed says his client "has committed no crime."
Hutchins' family released a statement saying, "It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law."
Prosecutors say they will formally file charges by the end of the month.
Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed face up to 18 months in prison if the case makes it to trial and they are convicted.