During his sit-down interview with George Stephanopoulos this past Thursday, actor Alec Baldwin said it is “highly unlikely” he will face criminal charges over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins; the district attorney, however, has not ruled those charges out.
“I’ve spoken to the sheriff’s department multiple times,” Baldwin said. “I don’t have anything to hide.”
Watch below:
Asked by @GStephanopoulos if he worries about being criminally charged, Alec Baldwin says: "I don't. I've been told by people who are in the know…that it's highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally."
Read more: https://t.co/zYugqKzjNu #BaldwinABC pic.twitter.com/msTJuJDDl1
— ABC News (@ABC) December 3, 2021
On Friday, First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies clarified that it is still very possible for Alec Baldwin to be “criminally culpable” in Hutchins’ death depending on what the investigation yields.
“Certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust,” Carmack-Altwies told Deadline.
Carmack-Altwies asserted that she will “exercise my prosecutorial discretion to its fullest, including filing charges that are supported by probable cause.”
The district attorney further clarified that “everyone” handling firearms on the set of Rust had a duty to follow safety protocols.
“Everyone involved in the handling and use of firearms on the set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected, and it appears that certain actions and inactions contributed to this outcome,” Carmack-Altwies the attorney said.
During his interview with Stephanopoulos, Baldwin made several eyebrow-raising claims that have since been heavily scrutinized, such as his assertion of not pulling the trigger when he shot Hutchins or his admission of not feeling guilt over what happened.
“I cock the gun and I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’ And I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off,” said Baldwin.
“I mean, I honest to God, if I felt that I was responsible, I might have killed myself,” he also said in the interview.
Though Baldwin claimed to be working closely with the investigation, Santa Fe law enforcement are reportedly not happy with his decision to speak with the press, with one source telling Deadline the sheriff’s department felt “betrayed” by the Stephanopoulos interview.
“Interviewed immediately after the shooting and subsequently by the Sheriff’s Office, the Emmy winner has been asked to not comment on the shooting beyond condolences as the police’s investigation continues – requests Baldwin has acknowledged, but is clearly ignoring as he lays out his version of what went down that terrible day,” one source said.
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