New ‘Rust’ Shooting Forensic Report Casts Doubt on Alec Baldwin’s Trigger Claim
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A new forensics report in the shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins suggests that Alec Baldwin would have had to pull the trigger for the gun to fire, contrary to what the actor has claimed.
The special prosecutors overseeing the case, Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, commissioned the new report, and shared it publicly for the first time in new filings tied to the ongoing case against Rust armorer Hannah Guttierez-Reed. Baldwin was previously charged with manslaughter in the case, but that charge was dropped earlier this year.
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As Morrissey and Lewis noted in the filing that contains the forensic report, the charges against Baldwin were partly dropped because there was information suggesting the Colt .45 revolver had been modified. But the prosecutors wrote that the new report “does not indicate any modifications to the gun.”
Morrissey and Lewis did not immediately return a request for comment. A lawyer for Baldwin also did not immediately return a request for comment.
The new report matches the findings from an FBI investigation last year, which also found Baldwin would’ve needed to pull the trigger for the gun to fire. However, when the FBI released its report, it noted that it had damaged the gun during testing. Baldwin’s attorneys had pointed to the damages when arguing the gun was not a reliable source of evidence. The new forensic report was completed after the firearms experts reconstructed the Colt. 45.
“The report further expresses that when parts broken by the FBI in testing were replaced, the gun fired as designed,” the prosecutors wrote. “The FBI had previously stated in its report that the gun functioned as designed before parts were broken during destructive testing.”
When discussing the shooting, Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger, or even having his hand on the trigger. Speaking with George Stephanopoulos last year, Baldwin said that, during the rehearsal, he pulled the revolver’s hammer back without fully cocking the gun because Hutchins wanted to work out a close-up shot of the moving barrel. He said the weapon then fired when he released the hammer.
The new report, however, casts doubt on that claim. “Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver,” the report states. “If the hammer had not been fully retracted to the rear, and were to slip from the handler’s thumb without the trigger depressed, the half cock or quarter cock notches in the hammer should have prevented the firing pin from reaching any cartridge in the firing chamber. If these features were somehow bypassed, a conspicuously off-center firing pin impression would result.”
It’s unclear if prosecutors plan to re-file charges against Baldwin based on the new report. When the original manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed, it was done “without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors could bring charges again.
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