Alec Baldwin will no longer face the possibility of enhanced sentencing in the case of the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust. Prosecutors have dropped the firearms enhancement that would have established a minimum sentence of five years for a guilty verdict.
The New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies filed the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the weapons supervisor on the set of the film, at the end of January. However, last Friday, Carmack-Altwies removed the firearms enhancement, reducing the potential sentence from a minimum of five years to a maximum of 18 months.
Heather Brewer, a spokesperson for the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, said in a statement that the enhancement had been dropped “to avoid further litigious distractions by Mr Baldwin and his attorneys”. Baldwin’s lawyers had argued that using the enhancement would be unconstitutional, citing a basic legal error in charging Baldwin under a version of the firearm-enhancement statute that did not exist on the date of the accident.
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals on the film’s ranch set on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 21, 2021. An analysis from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found that the gun was functioning normally and would not have gone off unless the trigger was pulled. Baldwin has denied wrongdoing and said that he did not pull the trigger, claiming he had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun or anywhere on the movie set.
The removal of the firearms enhancement has significantly reduced Baldwin’s potential sentence if found guilty. However, Baldwin’s lawyers remain adamant that he is innocent and will continue to fight for his innocence in court.