Alec Baldwin's Criminal Charges On 'Rust' May Be Served On Table, Says Legal Expert
Alec Baldwin is not yet exempted from receiving charges over Halyna Hutchins' death.
As the investigation into what happened on the "Rust" set continues, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office revealed it would soon determine the potential charges to file.
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On Wednesday, the investigators confirmed that Baldwin used the gun handed to him and fired a single live round. Per District attorney Marry Carmack-Altwies, the investigators are still unsure whether the incident was caused by negligence or plotted by one of the crew and staff members. For now, she treats the case as a complex one that needs more research and analysis.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles personal injury attorney Miguel Custodio revealed to Fox News that the investigators found a huge number of evidence on the set.
"Investigators gathered quite a bit of evidence - 500 rounds of various kinds of ammo, three guns, and the lead slug they pulled from Joel Souza's shoulder," he said. "Sending that to an FBI crime lab is uncommon, and goes to show the gravity of this case considering who's involved, and they want to get it right."
Per Custodio, criminal charges have not been determined as of the moment. However, it does not rule out Baldwin's potential criminal liability.
He added that if the investigators found out that the gun used to target practice on beer cans outside the "Rust" set, the current complacency would immediately be treated as recklessness. Once it happens, there will be criminal charges.
Custodio added that the production company's move to hire Chicago's Jenner & Block [law firm] indicates that they plan on establishing aggressive defense against potential cases.
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According to the personal injury attorney, the company will definitely try to defend that the producers are not liable. Instead, they may blame the individuals on the lower part of the pyramid - the assistant director or the armorer. The production company may also try washing their hands and arguing that they did not commit any wrongdoing in hiring them.
Meanwhile, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani already warned Baldwin and told him to lawyer up as he would get sued.
"He's got a lawyer up just on the civil side and on the potential criminal charges... he's going to be dragged into criminal court as a witness who's going to have to testify against others. So he needs an attorney right away because at a minimum he's a defendant in a civil case," she went on.