(Yahoo) Actor Alec Baldwin might soon face criminal charges for last year’s fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico film set of “Rust,” the local district attorney said in a government letter.
Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a recent letter to the state’s finance board that up to four people, including Baldwin, could potentially be charged in connection to the October 21, 2021, shooting, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Insider on Monday.
“If charges are warranted, the FJDA [First Judicial District Attorney] anticipates prosecuting up to four individuals,” states the letter, which adds, “One of the possible defendants is well-known movie actor Alec Baldwin.”
The August 30 letter — which asks New Mexico’s Board of Finance for $635,500 in emergency grant funding to cover the cost of prosecuting the case — says that the case could require four separate jury trials.
Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas told Insider in a statement on Monday that Carmack-Altwies “has made clear that she has not received” the local sheriff’s final report on the shooting “or made any decisions about who, if anyone, might be charged in this case.”
Nikas said he was recently told by the district attorney’s office “it would be premature to discuss the case because they had not yet reviewed the file or deliberated about their charging decision.”
“It is irresponsible to report otherwise,” Nikas said. “The DA’s office must be given the space to review this matter without unfounded speculation and innuendo.”
Carmack-Altwies’ office declined to comment on the case to Insider.
Carmack-Altwies told the Santa Fe New Mexican, which first reported on the matter, that her office is “certainly looking at all the homicide statutes and any gun statutes under New Mexico criminal code” when asked about specific charges that could be brought.
