Hollywood star Alec Baldwin, who was charged with manslaughter after being shot dead while filming a western, has pleaded "not guilty". The 64-year-old informed the court in the US state of New Mexico in writing on Thursday (local time) – and at the same time stated that he wanted to refrain from appearing at a planned online hearing on Friday. The hearing in his case will now not take place, the court said. However, this is subject to a number of conditions. For the time being, Baldwin is not allowed to consume alcohol or own a weapon. In addition, he is forbidden from contact with witnesses, with the exception of speaking about the further production of the film "Rust".
A few days earlier, Baldwin had won the case: At the request of his lawyers, prosecutors had dropped a more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the use of firearms against the actor. This could have earned Baldwin five years in prison. His lawyers argued that this allegation was legally flawed because the relevant legal basis for it only came into force months after the fatal shooting on the set of the Western shoot.
However, Baldwin still faces a possible sentence of 18 months imprisonment and a fine for negligent homicide. Arms master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is also charged with involuntary manslaughter, and a hearing in her case is still scheduled for Friday.
Prosecutors filed the charges at the end of January. Baldwin acted "extremely" negligently in many ways, it said. As an actor and as a producer of the film, he disregarded numerous safety regulations. A date for the start of the process has not yet been set.
Several civil lawsuits are also pending in the case. The parents living in Ukraine and the younger sister of the dead camerawoman Halyna Hutchins filed a lawsuit against Baldwin and others involved in early February, demanding damages.
Hutchins was fatally injured in October 2021 while filming the western "Rust" at a film ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin, who served as lead actor and producer on the film, was holding a gun in rehearsal for a scene when a shot went off. The projectile also hit director Joel Souza in the shoulder, injuring him. Investigations revealed that the Colt had a real bullet lodged in it. Baldwin and the Armorer had always denied responsibility for the accident.
The "Rust" filming, which was temporarily suspended after the incident, is now set to resume in the spring - with director Souza and Baldwin as producer and actor. Killed camerawoman's widower, Matthew Hutchins, joins as executive producer. Cinematographer Bianca Cline has been hired by Hutchins to "complete Halyna's vision" for the western, according to a statement. The film will no longer be shot in New Mexico, but at the "Yellowstone Film Ranch" in the US state of Montana in the north of the USA, as the producers announced.
