Alec Baldwin might still face charges in relation to the fatal shooting at 2021 Rust.
Special prosecutors in New Mexico revealed Tuesday that they want to submit their case to a Santa Fe grand jury against Rust, whom they think is responsible for the deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the injuries of director Joel Souza on set.
NBC News broke the news initially.
According to a news release, the case will be presented within the next two months, and “the grand jury will determine whether probable cause exists to bind Baldwin over on criminal charges.”
Baldwin, 65, may face up to 18 months in jail if convicted.
“After an extensive investigation over the past several months, additional facts have come to light that we believe show Mr. Baldwin has criminal culpability in the death of Halyna Hutchins and the shooting of Joel Souza,” Special Prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis stated.
“We believe the appropriate course of action is to permit a panel of New Mexico citizens to determine from here whether Mr. Baldwin should be held over for criminal trial.”
“It is unfortunate that a terrible tragedy has been turned into this misguided prosecution,” Baldwin’s attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, told PEOPLE. We will defend ourselves in court.”
In April, Morrissey and Lewis withdrew Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter allegation, citing “new facts” in the case. However, they stated at the time that they reserved the right to recharge him.
Baldwin, the film’s actor and producer, was on the set of The Western in New Mexico in October 2021 when a fake gun he was carrying fired, killing Hutchins and wounding Souza.
The Boss Baby star has stated that he had no idea the gun carried a live bullet and that he did not pull the trigger.
After a protracted investigation, authorities charged Emmy-winning actor and movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with “extremely reckless acts” on January 31, 2023. Gutierrez-Reed is scheduled to go on trial in February after pleading not guilty.
According to a probable cause statement filed in New Mexico’s First Judicial Court, Baldwin failed to receive required firearms training, failed to ask Gutierrez-Reed to show him that the gun contained no live rounds of ammunition, ignored crew safety complaints, and put his finger “on the trigger of a real firearm when a replica or rubber gun should have been used.”
Morrissey and Lewis stated in a court filing in June, two months after Baldwin’s charges were dismissed, that the pistol had been transferred to an independent expert for further examination.
“The charges against Alec Baldwin were dropped without prejudice because a possible malfunction of the gun has a significant impact on causation in relation to Baldwin, but not in relation to Gutierrez.” “Charges against Mr. Baldwin will be pursued if it is determined that the gun did not malfunction,” they wrote.
According to a forensic study acquired by PEOPLE in August, the trigger of the fake pistol must have been pushed “sufficiently” to cause the tragedy.
“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,” according to the firearms report prepared by experts Lucien Haag and Mike Haag for the State of New Mexico’s case against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
“This fatal incident was the consequence of the hammer being manually retracted to its fully rearward and cocked position, followed, at some point, by the pull or rearward depression of the trigger,” they went on to say.
Baldwin resolved a wrongful death complaint filed by Hutchins’ widower against the 30 Rock star earlier this year.
Rust filming was paused in the aftermath of the shooting, but Baldwin and the actors resumed production early this year and finished the film in May.