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Alec Baldwin (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)
Prosecutors dropped the involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin, and with it the possible prison sentence the Hollywood star could face for the deadly 2021 shooting on the set of the movie “Rust,” according to charging documents.
New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies charged Baldwin and set gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed last month with two counts of manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The most serious charge carried a possible prison sentence of five years.
Carmack-Altwies on Friday filed amended charges for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed, removing an aggravating factor for the use of a firearm in a crime, reducing the potential prison sentence from a minimum of five years to a maximum of 18 months.
“In order to prevent further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys, the district attorney and special counsel have removed the firearm aggravation from the manslaughter charges in the death of Halyna Hutchins,” Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney, said in a statement.
“We applaud the district attorney’s decision to dismiss the unlawful use of firearm aggravation. It was the right decision, ethically, and on the merits,” said Jason Bowles, an attorney for Gutierrez-Reed.
The “30 Rock” actor has denied responsibility for the incident, which occurred when a revolver he was rehearsing with fired a live bullet that killed Hutchins.
Baldwin has said that he cocked the revolver but never pulled the trigger and that it was the job of Gutierrez-Reed and other gun professionals to make sure it was unloaded.
On December 7, Gutiérrez-Reed testified to the New Mexico Workplace Safety Agency (OSHA) that the episode could have been avoided if he had had more time to prepare Baldwin.
Gutierrez-Reed said Baldwin was using the revolver “in the wrong way.”
(With information from Reuters)
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Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the shooting of “Rust”The charges against Alec Baldwin were formalized for the involuntary manslaughter of Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust”
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