Actor Alec Baldwin held the handgun which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust. Now Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter over the incident.
As noted via Fox, Alec Baldwin entered the not guilty plea on Thursday. As such, he waived “his first appearance in court, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital.” Otherwise, he was set to have appeared in court virtually on Friday at 12:00 PM ET.
There are several conditions to his release including the following:
“His conditions of release prohibit him from possessing firearms or other dangerous weapons.” They also noted that Baldwin is “not allowed to consume alcohol.” But, as they’ve mentioned, he has remained sober since 1985. It appears that the conditions also extend to witnesses related to the Rust incident.
“Baldwin’s contact with potential witnesses in the “Rust” case is limited as well, and he is not allowed to discuss the incident with them. He is only allowed to contact them in the capacity of related or unrelated business matters pertaining to finishing the filming of the movie, according to the documents.”
They describe “related business matters” as “finishing the film, promoting the film and other activities.” They further describe “unrelated business matters” as “other business-type relationships Baldwin may have with witnesses.”
The legal documents acquired by Fox also include a statement from the case’s prosecutors. The probable cause statement was released on January 31 and reads as the following:
“Baldwin’s deviation from known standards, practice and protocol directly caused the fatal death of Hutchins,” the documents state.
“By not receiving the required training on firearms, not checking the firearm with the armorer, letting the armorer leave the firearms in the church without being present, deviating from the practice of only accepting the firearm from the armorer, not dealing with the safety complaints on set and/or making sure safety meetings were held, putting his finger on the trigger of a real firearm when a replica or rubber gun should have been used, pointing the firearms at Hutchins and Souza, and the overall handling of the firearms in a negligent manner, Baldwin acted with willful disregard for the safety of others and in a manner which endangered other people, specifically Hutchins and Souza.”
This is certainly an interesting case and Alec Baldwin’s have already gotten the firearms enhancement dropped which was added to one of the involuntary manslaughter charges. It appears that this was a “basic legal error,” as described by one of Baldwin’s lawyers, and that the law didn’t exist when the shooting happened. Furthermore, they’ve been trying to have special prosecutor Andrea Reeb removed. Reeb has been serving as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, which Baldwin’s lawyers claim comes into conflict with her role as special prosecutor. They argue that she cannot serve on both legislating and prosecuting branches.
As such, we’ll have to see where this case goes from here. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.