Alec Baldwin has been charged again over fatal 'Rust' shooting

Alec Baldwin has been charged for the second time after the death of a producer on the set of his upcoming film Rust.

An indictment was filed in New Mexico on Friday over the death of Halyna Hutchins, who died aged 42 after a prop gun went off on set in October 2021.

Baldwin was allegedly holding the gun. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. The incident also wounded Joel Souza, the film's director.

Last April, prosecutors dismissed a similar charge against Baldwin, saying the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned.

(LR) Hilaria Baldwin and Alec Baldwin attend the American Museum of Natural History's 2023 Museum Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on November 30, 2023 in New York City. Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for the American Museum of Natural History

However, a fresh analysis concluded: "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."

Baldwin, 65, has said he did not pull the trigger but only pulled back the hammer of the gun before it fired.

The hammer is the part which gets pulled back to build momentum before firing.

Responding to the indictment, the actor's lawyers said "we look forward to our day in court".

Sometimes, the type of gun in question can go off without pulling the trigger, if force were applied to an uncocked hammer, according to FBI analysis.

But the only way investigators could get it to fire was by hitting the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked.

Baldwin has spoken about the incident in interviews. He said in 2022 on The Chris Cuomo Project podcast: "The people who are talking loudest about what happened or speculating about what happened were not on the set of the film."

"Everybody who was there, they know exactly what happened."

And the previous decision to charge the actor was branded a "terrible miscarriage of justice" by his lawyer.

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