“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” Alec Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement on Thursday, April 20, 2023 The declaration comes as a result of a decision by the prosecutors in New Mexico to drop an involuntary manslaughter charge against the American actor in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film Rust. Both Alec Baldwin and the film’s weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter. The actor was pointing a pistol at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when the gun when off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said the gun went off accidentally and that he did not pull the trigger. An FBI forensic report found the weapon could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled.
Weapon supervisor’s fate unknown
The case against Baldwin had already been diminishing, as a weapons charge that would have meant a much longer sentence had already been dismissed – and the first special prosecutor in the case resigned. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the charge against Gutierrez-Reed would also be dropped. Rust safety coordinator and assistant director David Halls had pleaded no contest in March to a conviction for unsafe handling of a firearm and a suspended sentence of six months of probation.
The charges against Baldwin had marked a stunning fall for an A-list actor whose 40-year career included the early blockbuster The Hunt for Red October and a starring role in the sitcom 30Rockas well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and a film adaptation of David Mamet’s Glengary Glen Ross. In recent years, he was known for his impression of former American president Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.
