Prosecutors have dropped the firearm enhancement charge against Alec Baldwin, in connection with the fatal October 2021 shooting on the New Mexico set of the movie Rust.
During rehearsals, a prop gun Baldwin was holding discharged a live round, fatally wounding cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin said he was told the gun was "cold," and did not have any live rounds.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the Santa Fe County district attorney, said in a statement on Monday the firearm enhancement was dropped "to avoid further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys. The prosecution's priority is securing justice, not securing billable hours for big-city attorneys." The altered charges were filed on Friday, and also apply to Rust's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who loaded the gun on the day of the shooting.
Baldwin now faces one count of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to 18 months in prison. The first hearing in the case is set for Friday, where a judge will determine if there is cause to move forward with the charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed, The New York Times reports.
-
5 of the best platonic TV friendshipsthe week recommends Maintaining boundaries has proven tricky for all but the most committed of buddies on the small screen
-
Why are global postal services cutting off package delivery to the US?Today's Big Question 'Uncertainty' around new tariff rules halts small-dollar imports
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Aimee Betro: the Wisconsin woman who came to Birmingham to killIn the Spotlight US hitwoman wore a niqab in online lover's revenge plot
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
