Charge against Baldwin was dropped
LOS ANGELES: Prosecutors have dropped charges against American actor and producer Alec Baldwin in connection with the death of a worker on the set of the movie “Rust” in 2021, Xinhua reported, citing The Hollywood Reporter, on Monday.
With the verdict, the 64-year-old veteran Hollywood actress and the gun and ammunition provider on the film set that day, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was spared a five-year prison sentence, according to the report.
On Oct 21, 2021, Baldwin opened fire from a prop gun on a film set in New Mexico, Santa Fe County, USA, killing the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring director Joel Souza.
On Jan. 31, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies officially filed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed.
On Friday, prosecutors dropped a second charge of gun modification Attorneys Baldwin and Gutirerrez-Reed filed earlier this month said the charge, based on a new New Mexico law, could not be used because it was passed after Hutchins’ death, The The Hollywood Reporter.
Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed still face manslaughter charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of 18 months, the report added.
“To avoid litigation interference by Baldwin and his attorneys, the District Attorney and special prosecutor have dropped the firearm modification charge to a manslaughter charge in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust,” according to a statement from a spokeswoman for New Mexico’s 1st Judicial District Attorney, Heather Brewer.
“The prosecution’s priority is to get justice,” Brewer said.
