On Thursday, Alec Baldwin entered a plea of not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his low-budget movie Rust in Bonanza City, New Mexico on October 21, 2021.
According to Deadline, Baldwin waived his right to appear in court and entered his plea on Thursday and New Mexico Judge Mary Marlow canceled his court appearance set for Friday.
On January 31, Baldwin and Rust film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were each formally charged with two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act.
If convicted Baldwin could face 18 months in prison. The Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office formally downgraded the second of the two charges earlier in the week for both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed. They originally had a firearms enhancement charge attached to the second involuntary manslaughter that would have brought up to five years in prison.
Baldwin launched a lawsuit in November of 2022 against several crew members for recklessness and dereliction of duty. Gutierrez-Reed, Assistant Director Dave Halls, Prop Master Sarah Zachry, and Seth Kenney, the gun supplier were named in the suit. Gutierrez-Reed had been previously been accused of mishandling weapons on the Rust film.
The movie was filming at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular production location south of Santa Fe. Baldwin was also a producer on the film and previously said he doesn't blame himself for the accident.
In a December 2021 interview with George Stephanopolous, Alec Baldwin said he "didn't pull the trigger."
"Well, the trigger wasn't pulled," Baldwin said, "I didn't pull the trigger."
"So you never pulled the trigger?" Stephanopolous asked.
"No, no," Baldwin said. "I would never point a gun and pull that trigger at them. Never."
In August, an FBI analysis concluded that Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger of the gun that killed cinematographer Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
The weapon Baldwin said he thought was a "cold gun," a .45 Colt (.45 Long Colt) caliber F.lli Pietta single-action revolver, "could not have been fired without pulling the trigger, according to an FBI forensic report."
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