Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted. He remains free pending trial under conditions that include not possessing firearms, consuming alcohol or leaving the country.
ADVERTISEMENTActor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set of Rust.
Court documents filed Wednesday (31 January) show Baldwin, 65, entered the plea in state district court in Santa Fe, waiving an arraignment that had been scheduled to take place remotely by video conference the next day.
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on the Western movie, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
A grand jury in Santa Fe indicted Baldwin in January after prosecutors received a new analysis of that gun, renewing a charge that prosecutors originally filed and then dismissed in April 2023.
Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
The actor remains free pending trial under conditions that include not possessing firearms, consuming alcohol or leaving the country. Baldwin can have limited contact with witnesses when it comes to promoting Rust, which has not been released for public viewing. Baldwin is prohibited from asking members of the Rust cast or crew to participate in a related documentary film.
Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed also has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, with a jury trial scheduled to start on 22 February. She has pleaded not guilty to that charge and a second charge of tampering with evidence in Hutchins’ death.
Gutierrez-Reed also was charged with carrying a gun into a downtown Santa Fe bar days before she was hired to work as the armorer on Rust. She has pleaded not guilty to that charge too.
The fatal shooting of Hutchins resulted in a series of civil lawsuits, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins’ family, centered on accusations that Baldwin and producers of Rust were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
Rust assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to unsafe handling of a firearm last March and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the fatal shooting.
