Alec Baldwin Scores Key Legal Win in ‘Rust’ Manslaughter Case

The Santa Fe District Attorney investigating the lethal accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has dropped a charge against actor-producer Alec Baldwin that could have sent him to jail for a mandatory five years. 

Heather Brewer, a spokesperson for New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, told The New York Times that the charge in question—known as an enhancement because it applies mandatory sentencing guidelines in firearm cases—was dropped to “avoid further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys.”

The withdrawal of the charge against Baldwin, first reported by TMZ, is significant, though there is still the remote possibility that, if convicted of involuntary manslaughter, he could still serve time in jail.  

Earlier this month, Baldwin and his legal team argued that adding the five-year enhancement charge was “a basic legal error” since the law creating the charge didn’t exist until May 2022, seven months after the accident on the set of Baldwin’s film Rust. At the time of the incident, a three-year enhancement law against “brandishing” a firearm was in place, but Baldwin’s lawyers claimed that law did not apply either, because “brandishing” is understood to mean an “intent to intimidate or injure a person.” Baldwin has said the shooting was an accident, and told George Stephanopoulos in a December 2021 interview that he had “no idea” the gun was loaded, and that he “didn’t pull the trigger.” In November 2022 he initiated a lawsuit against other Rust crew members for negligence in an effort to “clear his name.” 

Baldwin’s attorneys have pushed back forcefully on numerous fronts. In addition to fighting the enhancement charge, they claimed that the special prosecutor on the case, Andrea Reeb, should be disqualified from the case, because her position as a state lawmaker prohibits her from holding judicial authority.

Spokesperson Brewer commented on these maneuvers at the time by saying, “Another day, another motion from Alec Baldwin and his attorneys in an attempt to distract from the gross negligence and complete disregard for safety on the Rust film set that led to Halyna Hutchins’ death.”

Strangely enough, last week producers on Rust, a lower-mid-budget Western written and directed by Joel Souza based on a story by Souza and Baldwin and co-produced by Baldwin, announced that they would finish production the spring. Hutchins’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, will now serve as an executive producer.  

“Though bittersweet, I am grateful that a brilliant and dedicated new production team joining former cast and crew are committed to completing what Halyna and I started,” Souza said in a statement. “My every effort on this film will be devoted to honoring Halyna’s legacy and making her proud. It is a privilege to see this through on her behalf.”