Alec Baldwin Could Face Charges in 'Rust' Shooting

Alec Baldwin could potentially face charges in regards to the Rust on-set shooting that killed 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. The actor, who has maintained he did not pull the trigger on the gun that discharged on Oct. 21, 2021, was named as a possible future defendant by Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies in an Aug. 30 letter to the New Mexico Board of Finance newly obtained and published by Deadline.

In the letter, Carmack-Altwies made an emergency funding request for $635,500 to continue to fund the investigation of the high-profile case, noting that "this case could require up to four separate jury trials" and naming Baldwin as a possible defendant moving forward. "We are within weeks, if not days, of receiving the final report from the sheriff's office," Carmack-Altwies added during a New Mexico Board of Finance meeting on Sept. 20. She said while they are still awaiting reports, "it's become apparent that we will be potentially charging between one and four people with criminal charges and each of those charges will probably include some variation of our homicide statute." 

Because of the complexity involved in homicide cases, Carmack-Altwies explained that the extra money would be used by her office to hire more people to work the case. "These cases look to be too big for just my office to handle," Carmack-Altwies said, pointing out that there are other cases her office needs to handle as well. "We need an almost full-time attorney and someone who is very experienced on complex cases and very experienced with litigation."

Baldwin's lawyer, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, responded to PEOPLE with a statement claiming some people have been drawing "false conclusions" based on the DA's words. "The DA has made clear that she has not received the sheriff's report or made any decisions about who, if anyone, might be charged in this case," Nikas wrote. "And during my communications with the DA's office just a few weeks ago, after the August 30 funding request was submitted, I was told that it would be premature to discuss the case because they had not yet reviewed the file or deliberated about their charging decision." The statement concluded, "It is irresponsible to report otherwise. The DA's office must be given the space to review this matter without unfounded speculation and innuendo."