Alec Baldwin was able to secure a massive legal victory this past Monday when the district attorney for Santa Fe County, New Mexico, officially dropped the charge of gun enhancement against the actor in the case of the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer of “Rust.”
This charge being dropped means that Baldwin will not be slammed with anything longer than 18 months in prison, even if he ends up convicted of involuntary manslaughter, expressed a report from TMZ. For Baldwin to end up convicted of the charge of gun enhancement, prosecutors would have to prove that he aggressively brandished the firearm with the express intent to hurt or intimidate someone.
“In order to avoid further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys, the District Attorney and the special prosecutor have removed the firearm enhancement to the involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the ‘Rust’ film set,” explained a spokesperson for First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies to Fox News Digital. “The prosecution’s priority is securing justice, not securing billable hours for big-city attorneys.”
With this charge of gun enhancement added on, Baldwin would have been on the hook for a mandatory five years stuck in prison directly upon conviction, explained a report from Fox News. Earlier this past month, Baldwin’s legal team quickly went out to challenge the new charge, making the argument it was entirely unconstitutional.
“The prosecutors committed a basic legal error by charging Mr. Baldwin under a version of the firearm-enhancement statute that did not exist on the date of the accident,” expressed a legal filing.
Baldwin was slammed with charges of involuntary manslaughter this past month in relation to the fatal shooting of Hutchins back in October 2021. In a probable cause statement, the prosecution team alleged that Baldwin “drew the revolver from the holster, pointed it at Halyna Hutchins, and fired the weapon.”
The actor has always maintained that he is not the one responsible for the death of Hutchins on the set.
“I feel that someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” exclaimed Baldwin to George Stephanopoulos from ABC News back in December 2021. “I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don’t say that lightly.”
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the person who is allegedly responsible for the handling and maintenance of the firearms on the movie set, also faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter.