Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ manslaughter charges downgraded

Prosecutors have dropped charges of involuntary manslaughter against Alec Baldwin, reducing the possibility of prison time the Hollywood star could serve for a fatal shooting in 2021 on the set of the movie “Rust,” documents show.

New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies charged Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, with two counts of involuntary manslaughter last month in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, with the most serious charge carrying a prison sentence. five years in prison.

Carmack-Altwies filed amended charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed on Friday, dropping the firearms addition and reducing the possible prison sentence from a minimum of five years to a maximum of 18 months.

“In order to avoid further litigious interference by Mr. Baldwin and his lawyers, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have removed the firearms addition to the charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins in the movie “Rust”, Heather Brewer. , spokeswoman for the First Judicial District Attorney of New Mexico , said in a statement.

An attorney for Baldwin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We applaud the decision of the district attorney to eliminate the additional firearms and it is the right call, ethical, and in the merits,” said Jason Bowles, attorney for Gutierrez-Reed.

The “30 Rock” actor has denied responsibility for the shooting, which occurred as a revolver he was training with fired a live round that killed Hutchins. He said he built a revolver but never pulled the trigger and it was Gutierrez-Reed’s and other weapons professionals’ job to make sure it was dismantled.

Gutierrez-Reed testified to the New Mexico worker safety agency (OSHA) on December 7 that the shooting could have been prevented if she had had more time to train Baldwin. He said he had “bad form” when using the revolver.