Who is Mary Carmack-Altiwies? Experts hail DA’s decision to charge Alec Baldwin, call it ‘bold step’
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: Actor Alec Baldwin will be officially charged by the end of January with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The charges are brought in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie 'Rust'. The movie's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is also facing the same charges as Baldwin, and both are prepared to contest the charges. The charges against Baldwin and other crew members were announced by Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies. This move has been called "bold" and "aggressive" by a few legal experts.
Los Angeles County prosecutor Joshua Ritter, whose a partner with El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers, talked to The Independent about the involuntary manslaughter. He said, "Prosecutors have taken a bold step by charging Baldwin. He has some built-in defenses with the fact that he wasn’t the person responsible for making sure the gun was cleared and that there were multiple people on set whose job was to ensure everything was safe. But at the end of the day, the gun was in his hands. I find it astounding how much Baldwin has talked about this case since the shooting. His attorneys need to sit on his chest until this plays out because the more he opens his mouth the worse he’s making it for himself."
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On the other hand, Neama Rahmani, who is a trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, thinks that these charges are "aggressive." He tells the outlet, "The prosecution will seek to prove Baldwin had a duty to inspect the gun himself, he knew it had previously discharged, he pulled the trigger despite denying it, that his finger shouldn’t have been near the trigger, he shouldn’t have cocked the hammer, or some combination of those factors. Baldwin will argue that he reasonably relied on Halls’s representation that it was a ‘cold gun.’ The fact that Halls has already agreed to plead guilty means he is likely cooperating with the state against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed."
Who is Mary Carmack-Altiwies?
According to her Facebook page called First Judicial District Attorney, Altiwies is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law. She lives in Santa Fe with her wife Jo who is a retired law enforcement officer and shares two children. Giving back to the community, Altiwies has served as President of her local PTA and has taught at UNM Law School. She also volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters and served as a legal advocate for survivors of sexual assault. Her area of expertise is in criminal law. She has seen both sides of the courtroom - working as a public defender in the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office and running her own practice and as a Deputy District Attorney in the First Judicial District.
Carmack-Altwies told CNN after announcing her intention to file involuntary manslaughter charges. She said, "Every person that handles a gun has a duty to make sure that if they’re going to handle that gun, point it at someone and pull the trigger, that it is not going to fire a projectile and kill someone. An actor does not get a free pass just because they are an actor. That is what is so important. We are saying here in New Mexico, that everyone is equal under the law."
Prosecutor believes Alec Baldwin will get 'sympathy'
Neama Rahmani believes that if the case ends up on trial, Alec Baldwin will get sympathy. He tells The Independent, "Jurors love celebrities, there’s no question celebrities do better than regular people at trial. Even if a deal was on the table, Baldwin probably wouldn’t take it. He has a lot of money to assemble a top-flight legal team and he has a good defence, because he had every reason to believe the gun that was handed to him was safe."
Another lawyer who is supportive of this decision is Miguel Custodio who is a Los Angeles personal injury attorney. He says, "Baldwin pulled the trigger, he has to be accountable, plain and simple. There is clearly no one else who pulled the trigger. And you have to charge the person who pulled the trigger. The DA’s office made the right call. A lot of things came into play with regard to the decision to charge Baldwin. There was a lot of pressure to charge him but I also think they would’ve charged anybody else in this scenario. The DA’s office was just doing what they would normally do, following protocol and doing their job."