The Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office announced Monday that it is dropping the firearms enhancement charge — a felony 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 manslaughter charge for the shooting, however, that crime would carry a lesser sentence of 18 months if convicted. The amended complaint was filed Friday evening.
The charge was also dropped against gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who faces the same manslaughter charge as Baldwin.
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“In order to avoid further contentious distractions from Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys, the District Attorney and Special Prosecutor removed the firearms enhancement for the charges of manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the ‘Rust’ film set,” Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a statement. “The Crown’s priority is ensuring justice, not getting billable hours for big city lawyers.”
The decision to drop the charge was a victory for Baldwin, who makes his first court appearance on Friday.
Baldwin’s legal team filed a motion on February 10 arguing that the five-year gun enhancement did not apply at the time of writing the shooting: “Prosecutors made a fundamental legal error by accusing Mr. Baldwin of a version of the improved firearms law that did not exist on the date of the accident.” The accident occurred in October 2021, but the current version of the law only came into force in May 2022.
A week prior, his legal team filed a motion to disqualify Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor appointed by Carmack-Altwies, arguing that she is also an elected member of the New Mexico House of Representatives and therefore has a conflict. of interests.
After the motion to dismiss the gun enhancement charge, the district attorney released a statement that also criticized his “fancy lawyers.”
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“Another day, another motion from Alec Baldwin and his attorneys in an attempt to distract from the gross negligence and utter disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ set that led to the death of Halyna Hutchins,” said Heather Brewer, spokeswoman for New Mexico. First Judicial District Attorney, said. “Consistent with good legal practice, the District Attorney and Special Prosecutor will review all motions – even those given to the media before being served on the prosecutor. However, the District Attorney and Special Prosecutor will always focus on ensuring that justice is served and that everyone – even celebrities with fancy lawyers – is held accountable under the law.”
ABC News’ Vera Drymon, Matt Fuhrman and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
DA drops gun enhancement charge against Alec Baldwin in filming of ‘Rust’ originally on abcnews.go.com