The “30 Rock” actor has denied responsibility for the shooting inside a film-set church after Hutchins instructed him to point the gun at the camera, he cocked the revolver but never pulled the trigger.
Baldwin stated that live ammunition should never have been allowed on set and that it was the job of Gutierrez-Reid and first assistant director Dave Hall to ensure this was the case, a position supported by several actors and the SAG-AFTRA union.
Schilling said that video from inside the church before the shooting shows Baldwin with his finger on the trigger.
An FBI forensic examination of the revolver found that it “functioned normally” and would not fire without the trigger being pulled.
Prosecutors used Baldwin’s comments to the media against him, saying the investigation showed he deviated from the firearms safety protocol he laid out in television interviews.
“Baldwin would have been better off not making a public statement about these events,” said Kate Mangels, an attorney with the entertainment law firm Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley.
Still, prosecutors may face lengthy hurdles, legal analysts said, holding jury Baldwin criminally liable because they were assured that the gun was not loaded and for all of the film’s alleged security failures. It would be difficult to blame them, legal analysts said
No other ‘Rust’ creator has been charged.