The Santa Fe District Attorney on Monday announced it dropped the gun enhancement charge against Alec Baldwin.
Baldwin shot and killed 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins and injured 48-year-old Joel Souza on the movie set of ‘Rust’ in Santa Fe, Mexico in October 2021.
Halyna Hutchins
Last month Alec Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.
“If any one of these three people – Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls – had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor appointed by the DA to the case, said in a statement, according to Fox News. “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously.”
The gun enhancement charge would have carried a five-year prison sentence.
Baldwin is still facing the involuntary manslaughter charge which carries an 18-month prison sentence if convicted.
ABC News reported:
The Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office announced Monday it is dropping the gun enhancement charge — a crime that would have carried a five-year sentence if convicted — against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in October 2021.
Baldwin still faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting, however, that crime would carry a lesser sentence of 18 months if convicted. The amended complaint was filed late Friday.
The charge was also dropped against armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who faces the same involuntary manslaughter charge as Baldwin.
“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,” Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a statement. “The prosecution’s priority is securing justice, not securing billable hours for big-city attorneys.”
The decision to drop the charge was a win for Baldwin, who makes his first court appearance on Friday.