Alec Baldwin is the 'least likely' person to be charged for the Rust gun accident: CNN legal analyst
According to a new report, the district attorney of Santa Fe County, New Mexico is not ruling out criminal charges for the tragic gun accident on the set of Alec Baldwin's new Western film, "Rust," that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halnya Hutchins.
But, said former prosecutor and legal expert Jeffrey Toobin on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Baldwin himself is probably in the clear — at least as far as a criminal indictment goes.
"How complicated ... does this become if charges are brought and — and who they're brought against?" asked Cooper.
"It's a very complicated situation," said Toobin. "A lot of it has to do — will have to do with state of mind, which is always difficult for prosecutors to show. What did these various people know about the status of this gun at this point? And again, I just want to say at this point, Alec Baldwin looks like, frankly, the least likely person to have any sort of criminal liability, because it's very hard for me to imagine that he could be expected to know that this was a gun that could have inflicted real harm. Unless evidence comes to show that he had reason to know that, I think he would be criminally in the clear."
Toobin then broke down what could be in store for other people on the set.
"You know, as for all the other people — I mean, the first question you want to know as a prosecutor and as an investigator is, who had custody of this gun?" continued Toobin. "Who had access to ammunition? Was there any actual live ammunition on — on the premises? And who controlled it? And — and who put it into this gun if, in fact, that's what happened? Certainly, following the evidence related to the weapon itself will be central to what the investigators have to do."
Watch below:
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