Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The 64-year-old actor, comedian, and producer has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatally injuring a member of the Rust crew on the movie’s set in Santa Fe back in October 2021.
Now, Baldwin pleaded not guilty to his charge while waiving his right to appear in court in person.
According to the reports, the actor was set to appear before the judge this week, but the appearance has since been canceled. A preliminary hearing, which is set to take place before the end of April, is yet to be scheduled.
While Baldwin previously faced five years in prison, he now faces a maximum of 18 months of imprisonment after the gun enhancement charge was dropped.
The news comes after Baldwin maintained innocence and put the blame on armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed who handed him a loaded weapon on the set.
“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked,” attorney Luke Nikas as he branded the charges against his client a “terrible miscarriage of justice.”
Meanwhile, however, the investigators insisted that Baldwin was responsible because the gun wouldn’t go off if he didn’t pull the trigger. They also claimed the actor was spotted pulling the trigger on previous rehearsals using the same gun.
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“Standard protocol is the armorer is to show the actor the firearm, pull the bullets out in front of the actor, and demonstrate there are no live rounds (but dummies) in the firearm. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed did not do this protocol in front of Baldwin.
Baldwin did not object,” the investigators said.
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