The charges against actor Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have now been downgraded, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed. The pair were charged following the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western movie, Rust. While the involuntary manslaughter charges remain “the Santa Fe District Attorney formally downgraded the second of two charges, which included a firearm enhancement,” meaning that a potential five-year prison sentence for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed is now “off the table.”
"In order to avoid further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys, the District Attorney and the special prosecutor have removed the firearm enhancement to the involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the Rust film set," Heather Brewer, spokesperson for the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, said in a statement regarding the decision. "The prosecution's priority is securing justice, not securing billable hours for big-city attorneys."
The lawyer for Gutierrez-Reed’s, Jason Bowles, has since released a statement saying that they “applaud(s) the decision by the District Attorney and it was the right call, ethically, and on the merits.” Alec Baldwin’s legal representatives have yet to respond to the decision.
While a potential prison sentence of five years has now been removed, the involuntary manslaughter charges still in place could result in a maximum of 18 months in prison.
Filming on Rust is Expected to Start Up Again This Year with Alec Baldwin Returning
Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged earlier this month following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. These charges come over a year after the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins, which also saw Rust director Joel Souza wounded by the same projectile that was fired from the prop gun. Hutchins was tragically shot and killed after a prop gun was fired by Baldwin during the preparation of a scene. Reports of the poor safety protocols have since emerged, with Baldwin allegedly skipping the mandatory firearms training.
Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas has described the decision to charge the actor a “miscarriage of justice” saying, “This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. We will fight these charges and we will win.”
Filming on Rust is expected to start up again in the spring, with the movie "on track to be completed with Mr. Baldwin in the lead role and Joel Souza as director." Baldwin will remain the lead, with Rust taking place in 1880s Kansas, and following aging outlaw Harland Rust who comes out of hiding to rescue his thirteen-year-old grandson Lucas, after he is sentenced to hang for an accidental murder. A plot which is really rather haunting. Now fugitives, the pair have to outrun both Rust's nemesis, U.S. Marshal Wood Helm, and the vicious bounty hunter Fenton "Preacher" Lang.
Directed by Joel Souza and starring Alec Baldwin, Travis Fimmel, Brady Noon, Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles, and Devon Werkheiser, Rust will be released and distributed in the United States by The Avenue.