Alec Baldwinย on Friday asked a judge in New Mexico to dismiss a five-year firearm sentencing enhancement in the charges against him, saying it is unconstitutionally based on a law passed after the shooting on the set of the film โRust.โ
โThe prosecutors committed a basic legal error by charging Mr. Baldwin under a version of the firearm-enhancement statute that did not exist on the date of the accident,โ a court filing from Baldwin's attorneys said.
Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the weapons supervisor on the set of the Western,ย were charged last monthย with felony involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when theย gunย went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.ย Hutchins' parents and sister filed a lawsuitย over the shooting Thursday, after a similar suit filed by herย husband and son was settled.
Baldwin's attorneys also filed a motion on Tuesday toย disqualify the special prosecutorย in the case, asserting that her position as a state lawmaker constitutionally prohibits her from holding any authority in a judicial capacity.
Baldwin's legal team is mounting an aggressive legal fight against the charges before he has even made his initial court appearance, which is scheduled to take place by videoconference later this month. Baldwin has not been arrested.
โAnother day, another motion from Alec Baldwin and his attorneys in an attempt to distract from the gross negligence and complete disregard for safety on the โRust' film set that led to Halyna Hutchins' death,โ district attorney's spokeswoman Heather Brewer said in an email.
She added that the prosecution team โwill review all motions โ even those given to the media before being served to the DA. However, the DA's and theย special prosecutor's focusย will always remain on ensuring that justice is served and that everyone โ even celebrities with fancy attorneys โ is held accountable under the law.โ
The manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed include two alternative standards and sets of penalties, and a jury can decide which to pursue, according to prosecutors.
One version would require proof of negligence, which is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine under New Mexico law.
The second alternative is reckless disregard of safety โwithout due caution and circumspection.โ It carries a higher threshold of wrongdoing and includes the gunย enhancement that could result in a mandatory five years in prison.
But legal experts said Baldwin has a strong chance of seeing it thrown out.
โThis is a violation of theย ex post factoย clause of the constitution,โ said Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. โThe government can't pass a law and retroactively punish someone under that law. The judge is likely going to toss that enhancement and so Baldwin is just looking at a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail.โ
In court documents, the district attorney's office saidย reckless safety failuresย accompanied the film production from the outset, and that Baldwin's โdeviation from known standards, practices and protocol directly causedโ Hutchins' death.
They cited Baldwin's failure as an actor to appear for mandatory firearms training prior to filming and his decision as a producer to work with Gutierrez-Reed, who was an uncertified and inexperienced armorer.
Baldwin's attorney Luke Nikas said when theย charges were announcedย that they were โa terrible miscarriage of justice.โ He said Baldwinย relied on the professionalsย with whom he worked and โhad no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun.โ
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9 Comments
Baldwin is a slimy weasel. Even 18 months being his cell mate’s B**ch is better than letting him skate out of this.
Didn’t he promise to leave the country when Bush was elected
They all do its always a lie
When you handle a gun it is always loaded. If you keep this in mind this type of incidence will never happen.
Alec Baldwin is the reason they give clowns in the circus guns that shoot flowers!!!
EXACTLY!
Do you want to bet this scumbag doesn’t go to prison for shooting two people, one dying?
Pretty bush league to charge him with a law that didn’t even exist at the time of the alleged crime.
fire arms training should start in grade school and continue every year threw school until every student enters military service after graduation before entering military service for minimum two years active and four years reserves no one should serve in government and pass laws not knowing what they are about