Alec Baldwin wins an important round. Santa Fe prosecutors finally overturned an aggravating circumstance held against the actor in the fatal shooting case on the set of the film Rust. Therefore, the actor, charged with manslaughter at the end of January, no longer risks a 5-year prison sentence if convicted, but a maximum of 18 months.
Alec Baldwin’s lawyers had denounced a “basic error of law” and filed a motion contesting the aggravating circumstance, noting that the law on which it was based only came into force after the tragedy.
Avoid “distractions”
On Monday, the prosecutor’s office announced its decision, explaining that it wanted to “avoid contentious distractions from Mr. Baldwin and his lawyers”. The aggravating charge was punishable, if convicted, by an automatic 5-year prison term.
On October 21, 2021, this shooting on a ranch in New Mexico had turned tragic when Alec Baldwin had activated a weapon supposed to contain only blank bullets, but whose very real projectile had killed the director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42 years old, and injured director Joel Souza.
This rare news item had shocked Hollywood and had a strong impact, triggering calls to ban firearms on the sets, where the presence of live ammunition is in theory already prohibited. Alec Baldwin is being prosecuted in New Mexico for manslaughter and faces an 18-month prison sentence, just like the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.