Alec Baldwin faces trial over fatal shooting on set of ‘Rust’ But if convicted, the actor’s sentence could be much milder than expected. His lawyers want to have uncovered a mistake by the public prosecutor’s office.
So far it has been assumed that actor Alec Baldwin could face up to five years in prison if convicted for the fatal accident on the set of his film “Rust”. According to media reports, the responsible public prosecutor’s office is still aiming for this penalty. But according to the US site “Variety”, this claim is a “fundamental legal error”, as the star’s legal team is quoted as saying.
The background to this assumption: Baldwin was officially charged on January 31, 2023 and on two counts as a result of the October 2021 accident in which camerawoman Halyna Hutchins was fatally injured. The first charge is negligent homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison, according to US media reports. The second charge is also negligent homicide, but in connection with the use of firearms, which could be punished with up to five years in prison.
But this second charge is not legal, the actor’s side now apparently argues. “Prosecutors made a fundamental legal error in charging Mr. Baldwin with a version of the firearms statute that did not exist at the time of the accident.” Said law, which punishes such offenses with up to five years in prison, only came into force in May 2022, more than half a year after the incident.
Since it is not permitted to assert changes in the law retrospectively, the version of the law that was active in October 2021 must be used. This only provides for a maximum sentence of three years and is not applicable to the incident on the “Rust” set because it states that the intention of “intimidating or injuring” by force of arms must be given. Both are clearly not the case with regard to Baldwin.
If Baldwin’s lawyers prevail with this line of argument, the only remaining charge would be involuntary manslaughter and a maximum sentence of 18 months, or a year and a half. The actor and producer is scheduled to appear in court for the first time on February 24.
But Baldwin apparently still has to face another charge: According to court documents that are said to be available to the US site “TMZ”, the parents of the fatally wounded camerawoman and her sister are now taking legal action against the star. Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, are among the accused in the documents. Both are once again accused of having acted in a highly negligent manner.
While filming the western, Hutchins was hit by a bullet from a gun and died from her injuries. Director Joel Souza was also injured. Baldwin was preparing for a scene when he pointed the gun at the camerawoman and a shot went off.
