Will Alec Baldwin go to jail? Actor's lawyers label Rust shooting criminal charges as 'terrible miscarriage of justice'

On October 21, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during an accident on the sets of the feature film, Rust.

The incident occurred during the production of the film, when Alec Baldwin accidentally discharged a live round from a prop revolver, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

On January 19, 2023, both Baldwin and weapons handler Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter. In an official statement, Alec Baldwin's defense team stated that the actor should not bear the consequences of the killing.

They said:

"This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins' tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun, or anywhere on the movie set."

Another member of the production team, assistant director David Halls, was charged with negligent use of a deadly weapon. He reached a plea deal on January 19 and was offered a suspended sentence with six months of probation.

---

Alec Baldwin could be sentenced to a maximum of five years

According to the New York Post, if convicted of an involuntary manslaughter charge, Alex Baldwin could potentially face a maximum sentence of up to 5 years.

The first charge against the actor is involuntary manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to 18 months. Involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act is the second charge he is being faced with, which also carries an 18-month sentence.

Prosecutors have also added a firearm enhancement charge to the above charges, which will reportedly add up to the actor possibly spending five years in prison.

However, in a statement regarding the charges, Alec Baldwin's defense team claimed that the members of the production team should face the consequences of the shooting.

His defense team added:

"He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win."

In an interview with CNN, Baldwin also implicated Gutierrez-Reed in the incident, claiming that she was solely responsible for the shooting.

Baldwin said:

“Someone put a live bullet in the gun who should have known better. That was [Gutierrez Reed’s] job. Her job was to look at the ammunition and put in the dummy round or the blank round, and there wasn’t supposed to be any live rounds on the set."

He added:

“I’m not sitting there saying I want them to, you know, go to prison, or I want their lives to be hell. I don’t want that, but I want everybody to know that those are the two people that are responsible for what happened.”

However, as noted by the Wall Street Journal, Alec Baldwin also produced the project, implying that he was also responsible for the safety measures on set.

Mary Carmack-Altwies, the First Judicial District Attorney in New Mexico, mentioned:

"There was such a lack of safety and safety standards on that set. There were live rounds on set, they were mixed in with dummy rounds."

She continued:

"Nobody was checking those or at least they weren't checking them consistently. They somehow got loaded into a gun, handed off to Alec Baldwin, he didn't check it, he didn't do what he was supposed to do to make sure he was safe or make sure anyone else was safe. He pointed the gun at Halyna Hutchins and he pulled the trigger."

The case is currently ongoing and more details about it are awaited.