Alec Baldwin scheduled for court on charges in set death - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
Alec Baldwin's first court appearance has been set as he confronts accusations of firearm safety failures and involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico film set.
A New Mexico court on Wednesday scheduled Baldwin and film-set weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to appear by videoconference before Santa Fe-based District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in late February, leaving several weeks before the defendants may provide a formal response to felony charges. They were both charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie "Rust."
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
A manslaughter charge can be brought if a defendant killed while doing something lawful but dangerous and was acting negligently or without caution.
In newly filed court documents, prosecutors said reckless safety failures accompanied the film production from the outset. They cite Baldwin's failure as an actor to appear for mandatory firearms training prior to filming and his decision as a producer to work with Gutierrez-Reed, who was an uncertified and inexperienced armorer.
A probable cause statement from investigators traces safety failures across a 10-day period, such as misfires on set, a camera crew walkout and the moments before Hutchins' death as a revolver was loaded with ammunition and Baldwin's finger came to rest on the pistol's trigger.
"Baldwin's deviation from known standards, practices and protocol directly caused" Hutchins' death, Robert Shilling, a special investigator for the Santa Fe district attorney's office, said in the probable cause statement.
Baldwin's attorney Luke Nikas declined to comment Tuesday and referred to a previous statement in which he called the charges a "terrible miscarriage of justice" that he and his client would fight and win.
"Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set," the statement said. "He relied on the professionals with whom he worked."
Gutierrez-Reed's attorney said they would release a statement later.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told The Associated Press in a Jan. 19 interview that the set was "really being run pretty fast and loose" and Baldwin should have known there were previous misfires on the set and people had brought up safety concerns. She also highlighted Baldwin as the person "that held the gun, that pointed the gun and that pulled the trigger."
Prosecutors will forgo a grand jury and rely on a judge to determine if there is sufficient evidence to move toward trial. That decision could take up to 60 days and involve trail-like hearings to consider witness testimony and evidence.
Prosecutors have submitted a list of dozens of witnesses including the wounded "Rust" director Souza, weapons assistant Sarah Zachry, the film's ammunition provider, several participants in the filmset rehearsal where Hutchins was shot — as well as FBI analysts, law enforcement detectives and sheriff's deputies who initially responded to the shooting.
The manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed include two alternative standards and sanctions.
One version would require proof of negligence, which is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine under New Mexico law.
The second alternative is reckless disregard of safety "without due caution and circumspection." It carries a higher threshold of wrongdoing and includes a "firearm enhancement" that could result in a mandatory five years in prison because the offense was committed with a gun.
A jury may decide which definition of manslaughter to pursue, prosecutors said.
Defense litigator Kate Mangels, whose work includes the entertainment sector, said prosecutors submitted a robust analysis of Baldwin's safety responsibilities as actor and producer on "Rust."
"The fact that they separated out Alec Baldwin the actor versus Alec Baldwin the producer shows to me that they're potentially foreseeing a challenge to his culpability as to either of those roles," said Mangles, who is based in Santa Monica, California. "So they want to differentiate ... and provide a robust analysis of both of those separately."
Investigators said reckless safety failures culminated when Baldwin drew a revolver from a holster, pointed it at Hutchins and fired the weapon when a plastic or replica gun should have been used by industry standards.
Photos and videos of the rehearsal, including moments before the deadly shooting, showed Baldwin with his finger inside the trigger guard and on the trigger while "manipulating" the pistol's hammer, investigators said, noting that an FBI analysis shows the pistol could not be fired without pressing the trigger.
Baldwin, who has described the killing as a tragic accident, said he was told the .45-caliber revolver was safe. The 64-year-old actor has sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun.
Baldwin said in his lawsuit that, while working on camera angles with Hutchins, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.
Defense attorney Jason Bowles, who represents Gutierrez-Reed, said the charges are the result of a "flawed investigation" and an "inaccurate understanding of the full facts."
The decision to charge Baldwin marks a stunning turn of events for an A-list actor whose 40-year career included the early blockbuster "The Hunt for Red October" and a starring role in the sitcom "30 Rock," as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" and a film adaptation of David Mamet's "Glengary Glen Ross." In recent years, Baldwin was known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live."
Prosecutors said a proposed plea agreement signed by assistant director David Halls, who oversaw safety on set, has not yet been approved by a judge and cannot be published.
Halls also is scheduled for a first-appearance in New Mexico court later this month. He has agreed to plead guilty in the negligent use of a deadly weapon, explaining that he may have handled the gun improperly before it was given to Baldwin, prosecutors said.
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AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
California releases its own plan for Colorado River cuts - By Kathleen Ronayne And Suman Naishadham Associated Press
California released a plan Tuesday detailing how Western states reliant on the Colorado River should save more water. It came a day after the six other states in the river basin made a competing proposal.
In a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, California described how states could conserve between 1 million and nearly 2 million acre feet of water through new cuts based on the elevation of Lake Mead, a key reservoir.
Its plan did not account for water lost to evaporation and during transportation — a move sought by the other states that would mean big cuts for California.
The 1,450-mile river serves 40 million people across the West and Mexico, generating hydroelectric power for regional markets and irrigating nearly 6 million acres of farmland.
A multi-decade drought in the West worsened by climate change, rising demand and overuse has sent water levels at key reservoirs along the river to unprecedented lows. That has forced federal and state officials to take additional steps to protect the system.
California's plan and the separate methods outlined by states Monday came in response to Reclamation asking them last year to detail how they would use between 15% and 30% less water. The federal agency operates the major dams in the river system.
All seven states missed that deadline last August. Six of them regrouped and came to an agreement by the end of January. California was the the lone holdout to that agreement, and responded Tuesday with its own plan.
Unlike the other states' plan, California's does not factor the roughly 1.5 million acre feet of Colorado River water lost to evaporation and transportation.
Instead, it proposes reducing water taken out of Lake Mead by 1 million acre feet, with 400,000 acre feet coming from its own users. The state previously outlined that level of cuts in October. Arizona would bear the brunt of bigger cuts — 560,000 acre feet — while Nevada would make up the rest. Those numbers are based on discussions from prior negotiations, California's letter said.
An acre foot is enough water to supply two to three U.S. households for a year.
The Arizona Department of Water Resources said it was still reviewing California's proposal and didn't have an immediate comment.
But Tom Buschatzke, the department's director, said earlier Tuesday that water managers across the basin couldn't reach agreement with California on cuts, even at the broader state level.
"The big issues are what does the priority system mean, what does the junior priority mean and how does that attach to that outcome of who takes what cut?" he said. "That was the issue over the summer, that was the issue over the fall, that's still the issue."
California has the largest allocation of water among the seven U.S. states that tap the Colorado River. It is also among the last to face water cuts in times of shortage because of its senior water rights.
That has given the state an advantage over others in talks that spanned months over how to cut water use.
California water officials have often repeated that any additional water cuts must be legally defensible and in line with western water law that honors its water rights.
JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California and a board member of the Imperial Irrigation District, indicated California may file a lawsuit if the federal government attempts to count for evaporative losses.
"The best way to avoid conflict and ensure that we can put water in the river right away is through a voluntary approach, not putting proposals that sidestep the Law of the River and ignore California's senior right and give no respect to that," he said.
Existing agreements only spell cuts when Lake Mead's elevation is between 1,090 feetand 1,025 feet. If it drops any lower than 1,025 feet, California's plan proposes even further cuts based on the so-called Law of the River — likely meaning Arizona and Nevada would bear the brunt of them. Those cuts are designed to keep Lake Mead from reaching "dead pool," when it could no longer pump out water to farms and cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
The reservoir's current elevation is around 1,045 feet.
In total, California's plan could save between 1 million and 2 million acre-feet of water based on the elevation levels at Lake Mead, from which Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico draw their share of the river.
Adel Hagekhalil, general manager for the Metropolitan Water District of California, the nation's largest water supplier, said it was important to protect key reservoirs "without getting mired in lengthy legal battles."
Hagekhalil and other water managers pointed to numerous efforts the state has made to drastically reduce its water usage by making agricultural and urban water use more efficient.
"California knows how to permanently reduce use of the river — we have done it over the past 20 years, through billions of dollars in investments and hard-earned partnerships," he said in a statement. "We can help the entire Southwest do it again as we move forward."
The new proposals do not change states' water allocations immediately — or disrupt their existing water rights. Instead, they will be folded into a larger proposal Reclamation is working on to revise how it operates Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams — behemoth power producers on the Colorado River.
Despite California's inability to reach agreement with the other six states so far, the parties said they hope to keep talking.
"We're not going to stop the discussions," said Buschatzke of Arizona, "and maybe we come to an agreement and maybe we won't."
Arizona ranchers to be paid for removing livestock carcasses - Associated Press
The Arizona Livestock Loss Board is implementing a new incentive program that will compensate ranchers for removing livestock carcasses to locations where they aren't accessible to Mexican wolves.
Officials announced Wednesday that the board will pay ranchers $250 for each carcass that is made unavailable to wolves.
The board was formed by the Arizona Legislature in 2015 and one of its charges was to research ways to reduce livestock depredations by Mexican wolves.
One measure that stood out as being effective in other states was removing livestock carcasses from wolf-occupied areas to avoid wolves being drawn to and remaining in the area as they scavenge the carcass.
At a recent Arizona Livestock Loss Board meeting, a rancher from Springerville said carcass removal was effective in managing depredations on her working ranch.
Although ranchers and Arizona Game and Fish Department personnel have been removing carcasses for years, the number has been limited by the cost of removals and the limited time that agency personnel have been able to commit to the program given the high demand in managing the wolves themselves.
The Mexican wolf is the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America. According to the most recent survey released in early 2022, there were at least 196 Mexican wolves in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona. It marked the sixth straight year the population had increased.
New Mexico candidate indicted in drive-by shooting case - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
A political newcomer who lost his bid for the New Mexico statehouse has been indicted on charges of allegedly orchestrating a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of Democratic officials.
A Bernalillo County grand jury returned a 14-count indictment Monday against Solomon Peña, prosecutors said. The counts include criminal solicitation to commit shooting at a dwelling, shooting at a dwelling, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The 39-year-old felon remains in custody after a judge last week ordered him to be held without bond pending trial.
Detectives identified Peña as their key suspect using a combination of cellphone and vehicle records, witness interviews and bullet casings collected at the lawmakers' homes.
Authorities arrested Peña on Jan. 9, accusing him of paying for a father and son and two other unidentified men to shoot at the officials' homes between early December and early January. The shootings followed his unsuccessful Republican bid for a district long considered a Democratic stronghold. He claimed the election was rigged.
No one was hurt, but the case reignited the debate over whether lawmakers should make it harder for people accused of violent crimes to make bail. Lawmakers during this legislative session also are considering a measure that would shield the home addresses of elected officials.
Prosecutors have outlined Peña's previous time in prison and described him as the "ringleader" of a group that he assembled to shoot at people's homes, saying ballistics testing determined that a firearm found in the trunk of a car registered to Peña was linked to at least one shooting. Another man was found driving that car and was arrested on an unrelated warrant.
Peña's defense attorney has raised questions about the credibility of a confidential witness that shared information with authorities, saying some of the statements used in a criminal complaint were contradictory. She also argued her client's criminal history did not involve any violent convictions or crimes involving firearms and that he has not been in trouble with the law — other than two traffic citations — since his release from prison in 2016.
Court records show Peña was incarcerated for several years after being arrested in 2007 in connection with what authorities described as a smash-and-grab burglary scheme that targeted retail stores. His voting rights were restored after he completed probation in 2021.
State aroma bill passes its first sniff test in the NM Legislature - By Shaun Griswold,Source New Mexico
What smell comes to mind when you think of New Mexico?
Is it the fresh rain rolling off Sandia Mountains? Is it alfalfa cut for harvest outside Roswell? Perhaps it’s the mercaptan added to the otherwise odorless smell from natural gas production in the Four Corners, or the waft of cows on the eastside of New Mexico.
Those last two might be more of a stank.
The flavor in the Land of Enchantment starts at green — even red chile is green to begin with — so it makes sense that lawmakers are weighing whether to make green chile the state’s official aroma. Specifically, it’s that smell of roasting chile that draws people every fall to parking lots across New Mexico.
That sweet, spicy aroma that brings watering mouths and nostalgia for home.
Senate Bill 188 passed its first sniff test on Tuesday, wafting with unanimous approval through the Senate Indian, Rural, and Cultural Affairs Committee in Santa Fe.
Sen. William Soules (D-Las Cruces) garnered multi-generational support for the bill during public comment.
First, a classroom of fifth graders from Monte Vista Elementary School in Las Cruces spoke over Zoom, petitioning lawmakers to pass their bill during this 60-day session.
The class said they had meetings with Soules before the session to talk about laws that represent cultural heritage in the state, such as the official bird (roadrunner), state cookie (biscochito), or state question (red or green?).
As the students understood how something like that becomes law, they asked why there is not an official smell. At the same time, the class researched the agricultural impact chile has in their community, and their curiosity led them to lobby Soules to sponsor the green chile aroma bill.
“It’s going to be statewide and could increase tourism,” a student in the class testified before the committee. “It’ll help local farmers and farming green chilies. This will make lifestyle (in New Mexico) a lot better.”
Las Cruces Mayor Pro-Tem Kasandra Gandara said there was some criticism that the aroma bill was “a waste of time” for lawmakers. She responded that fifth graders can learn civic policy in class, but being able to be a part of a real-world scenario — and potentially change state law — is a lasting experience.
“This is so exciting to have the fifth grade elementary students take part in their state and participate in what it’s like to form a bill, to stand up on behalf of a bill, and this is really what this is about,” she said. “And we need to be able to do more of this.”
A representative from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture also spoke in favor of the measure, evoking “the longings when you’re away from home and the comfort that green chile provides, as an aroma and a taste.”
The Financial Impact Report on the bill does affirm the students’ reasoning that this could help tourism in the state and help to give New Mexico staunch advancement in the Chile Verde Wars against Colorado.
“New Mexico has consistently lower visitation rates than neighboring Colorado, which reported 84.2 million visitors in 2021 compared to approximately 40 million visitors to New Mexico in the same year,” legislative analysts wrote. “The new state aroma could help draw visitors away from Colorado, which, for some reason, thinks it has green chile comparable to that of New Mexico.”
With that burn from Roundhouse researchers, and with the committee’s support, the young lobbyists from Las Cruces are on their way to obtaining something many adults fail to get: a legislative victory in Santa Fe.
'Dances With Wolves' actor arrested in Nevada sex abuse case - By Rio Yamat Associated Press
Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested and raided the home of a former "Dances With Wolves" actor turned alleged cult leader accused of sexually assaulting young Indigenous girls during a period spanning two decades, according to police records obtained by The Associated Press.
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, was taken into custody in the afternoon near the North Las Vegas home he is said to share with his five wives. SWAT officers were seen outside the two-story home in the evening as detectives searched the property.
Known for his role as the young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner film, Chasing Horse gained a reputation among tribes across the United States and in Canada as a so-called medicine man who performed healing ceremonies and spiritual gatherings and, police allege, used his position to abuse young Native American girls.
His arrest is the culmination of a monthslong investigation that began after police received a tip in October 2022. According to a 50-page search warrant obtained by AP, Chasing Horse is believed to be the leader of a cult known as The Circle.
And it comes as state attorneys general and lawmakers around the U.S. are looking into creating specialized units to handle cases involving Native women.
In South Dakota, the attorney general's office has put a new focus on crimes against Native American people, including human trafficking and murders.
According to the document, Las Vegas police have identified at least six alleged victims and uncovered sexual allegations against Chasing Horse dating to the early 2000s in multiple states, including Montana, South Dakota and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade.
There was no lawyer listed in court records for Chasing Horse who could comment on his behalf as of Tuesday evening.
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
According to the warrant, he was banished in 2015 from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, amid allegations of human trafficking.
"Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions," it reads, adding that his followers believed he could communicate with higher beings and referred to him as "Medicine Man" or "Holy Person."
Although the warrant includes details of crimes reported elsewhere, the arrest stems from crimes allegedly committed in Nevada's Clark County. They include sex trafficking, sexual assault of a child younger than 16 and child abuse.
Some of the alleged victims were as young as 13, according to the warrant. One of Chasing Horse's wives was allegedly offered to him as a "gift" when she was 15, while another became a wife after turning 16.
Chasing Horse also is accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex with the victims for other men who allegedly paid him.