Charges of involuntary manslaughter against Alec Baldwin in the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of their movie Rust will be dropped, Deadline reported on Thursday.
Sources told the outlet that recently designated special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis are expected to file dismissal paperwork imminently. The news comes on the same day as production resumed on the Western film in Montana and less than two weeks before a trial was to begin in New Mexico, with Baldwin’s first court appearance slated for May 3.
“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,” the actor’s lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said in a statement to ABC News. Representatives for the Santa Fe’s district attorney’s office had no comment when contacted by Deadline.
As it currently stands, Baldwin’s codefendant and *Rust ex–*prop armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is still facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting, which killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza in October 2021. The film’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, who was entrusted with the set’s safety, accepted a plea bargain for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. He received a sentence of six months unsupervised probation.
The case against Baldwin, who has maintained his innocence, hit multiple snags in recent months. In mid-March, Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor, quit in response to a motion filed by the actor’s attorney that asked the judge to remove Reeb over her separate political job as a member of New Mexico’s state legislature. In February, prosecutors withdrew a “firearm enhancement” charge that, with a conviction, would have carried a mandatory five-year prison sentence because the current version of the law was passed after the tragedy.
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