Hollywood star Alec Baldwin faces up to 18 months in jail after he was indicted Friday by a New Mexico grand jury for his involvement in the fatal Rust shooting from 2021.
Alec Baldwin was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the movie’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. The actor has maintained his innocence, saying he didn’t know the prop gun in his hand contained a live round. He has also claimed the gun went off involuntarily without his pulling the trigger.
The grand jury heard evidence presented by special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis. If convicted on the involuntary manslaughter charge, Baldwin could be sentenced to a maximum of 18 months in prison.
“We look forward to our day in court,” said Baldwin’s attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, of Quinn Emanuel, told NBC News.
Friday’s indictment comes after New Mexico prosecutors revived the case against Baldwin after previously dropping charges last year.
The decision to revive the case came late last year, with prosecutors saying “additional facts have come to light” following an “extensive” investigation they carried out in recent months.
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was charged last year with involuntary manslaughter, with a trial set to begin February 21.
Her job involved overseeing firearms and ammunition for the production. Prosecutors will presumably try to explain how a live round managed to find its way into the prop gun held by Baldwin.
The filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana, with production wrapping in May. No distributor or release date has been announced for the indie production.
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