1 year ago
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Prosecutors in New Mexico have dropped criminal charges against the actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western movie Rust in 2021, according to attorneys for Baldwin.
Baldwin was pointing a Colt .45 pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding the director Joel Souza.
Baldwin has said the gun went off accidentally. He has repeatedly said that he was informed by crew members that the gun was not loaded, and has also insisted that he did not pull the trigger.
In February, Baldwin pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and had agreed to the court’s terms to finish filming the low-budget film, as well as a ban on using guns and consuming alcohol.
ABC News and CNN first reported that New Mexico prosecutors had dropped charges against Baldwin.
Shortly later Baldwin attorneys said they were “pleased with the decision to dismiss the case”, the Associated Press reported. “We encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” they added.
In February, the Santa Fe district attorney’s office announced that it dropped the gun enhancement charge against Baldwin, which would have carried a five-year sentence.
The charge was also dropped against the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The dropped charges come just weeks after Mary Carmack-Altwies, the New Mexico district attorney who charged Baldwin, stepped down from the case.
In a statement released by Carmack-Altwies’s spokesperson last month, Carmack-Altwies was said to have stepped aside in order to “focus on the broader public safety needs in New Mexico’s first judicial district.”
A few weeks prior to Carmack-Altwies stepping aside, another special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb, stepped down after Baldwin’s attorneys argued that it was unlawful for her to simultaneously serve as part of the state judiciary and legislature.
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