Alec Baldwin on Thursday entered a not guilty plea to charges filed against him in the death of Halyna Hutchins on a movie set in New Mexico in 2021. He also waived his right to make his first court appearance — ahead of a scheduled virtual appearance Friday.
His plea was accepted by New Mexico 1st Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who imposed some conditions.
As part of his plea, Baldwin was ordered to not consume alcohol, possess weapons or talk to witnesses, except those who might be involved in completing the production of "Rust", which is scheduled to resume this spring.
Baldwin is on actor and producer for "Rust." He was rehearsing a scene when authorities say he fired a gun that killed Hutchins, the film's cinematographer. The film's director was also wounded in the incident.
The New Mexico prosecutors downgraded the charges against Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, which significantly reduced a possible sentence if they were to be convicted. The change means the maximum sentence is now 18 months, rather than a minimum of five years.
In charging Baldwin in January, prosecutors said Baldwin “failed to appear for mandatory firearms training” before filming and then received limited on-set training because he was on his mobile phone.
Prosecutors also said there were “many instances of extremely reckless acts or reckless failures to act by Baldwin in a 10-day period” before he killed Hutchins. Gutierrez-Reed, the prosecutors said, failed to keep live ammunition off the set, did not inspect the gun that killed Hutchins, and was not present when it was used.
