Actor Alec Baldwin arrives for the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy’s Waves of Hope for Human Rights Gala Dinner at the Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York on December 6, 2022.
Angela Weiss | afp | beautiful pictures
Prosecutors have downgraded the involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin, reducing the jail time the Hollywood star could face for the deadly 2021 shooting on the set of “Rust.” indictment documents show.
New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies charged Baldwin and the set of the film, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, with two counts of involuntary manslaughter last month over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins , with the most serious charges possibly leading to a prison sentence of five years in prison.
Carmack-Altwies filed altercation charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed on Friday, removing the weapon improvement and reducing their possible prison sentences from a minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 18 months.
Baldwin and his attorneys, the district attorney and special counsel removed the firearms enhancement to the involuntary manslaughter charges in Halyna Hutchins’ death on set. “Rust,” said Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for New Mexico’s First District Attorney, in a statement.
Baldwin’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jason Bowles, attorney for Gutierrez-Reed, said: “We welcome the district attorney’s decision to dismiss the weapons enhancement and that it was the right, ethical and worthy decision.
The “30 Rock” actor has deny the responsibility for the shooting, which occurred when a revolver he was rehearsing fired a live shot that killed Hutchins. He said he loaded a revolver but never pull the trigger and it’s the job of Gutierrez-Reed and other weapons experts to make sure it’s unloaded.
Gutierrez-Reed testified to New Mexico’s occupational safety agency (OSHA) on December 7 that the shooting could have been prevented if she had had more time to train Baldwin. She said he was in “poor form” using the revolver.
