American actor Alec Baldwin‘s lawyers announced on Thursday that New Mexico prosecutors have dropped the criminal charges against him related to the fatal shooting of director of photography Helena Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in 2021.
In January, Baldwin, who is 65 years old, faced charges of involuntary manslaughter for his involvement in the death of Hutchins and the shooting of the film’s director, Joel Sousa.
In February, the actor pleaded not guilty to charges related to the death of Hutchins, in which he was accused of taking reckless and careless safety measures. The severity of the charges was later reduced by prosecutors, decreasing the possible length of his prison sentence.
Baldwin’s lawyers, Luke Nicas and Alex Spiro, released a statement expressing their satisfaction with the decision to drop the case against him. Additionally, they urged for a thorough investigation into the details surrounding the unfortunate incident.
The person who speaks on behalf of the prosecutors in New Mexico’s 1st District, where the charges were filed, has not responded to a comment request yet.
Baldwin is claiming that he did not shoot the gun on purpose. He admits to aiming it, but says that he trusted the gun officials to ensure that it was not loaded with bullets.
Hutchins was born in Ukraine and her family currently resides there near Kiev. They have filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified compensation under New Mexico law from Baldwin, the filmmakers, and crew members for the loss of Halena.
