Special prosecutors in New Mexico claim in a new legal filing that actor Alec Baldwin’s behavior on the “Rust” movie set contributed to “safety compromises” that led to the fatal shooting of the film’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
Prosecutors sought to defend their case in a filing Friday after Baldwin’s team filed a motion in March to dismiss the indictment against the actor.
Prosecutors argue Baldwin has repeatedly “changed his story” about the events of the shooting and he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” on set, according to a copy of the response obtained by CNN.
A representative for Baldwin declined to comment on the new filing.
The filing says during his first days on set, Baldwin demanded the crew and the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, “work faster” and his “relentless rushing of the crew on the movie set routinely compromised safety.”
Baldwin, according to the filing, frequently screamed and cursed at crew members, and himself or at no one in particular on set and had “absolutely no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him. “Witnesses have testified that it was this exact conduct that contributed to safety compromises on set,” the filing alleged.
In January, Baldwin pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in the shooting, which left Hutchins dead and injured director Joel Souza when a gun held by Baldwin fired a live round during a scene rehearsal on the set of the western.
