Some good news has come in for Alec Baldwin. As has been widely reported, Baldwin was at the center of a deadly accident on the set of the Western movie Rust in October 2021. The actor was given what he was told was a prop handgun which had somehow been loaded with at least one live round. While preparing for a scene, the gun fired, and the round wounded director Joel Souza and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Production had shut down on the New Mexico set while an investigation commenced, though filming resumed this week at a new location in Montana.
Previously, it had been reported that Baldwin and set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed would both be charged with involuntary manslaughter as a result of the accident. Both had stated their intentions to fight the charges in court. Now, Deadline reports that the decision has been made to drop the charges against Baldwin, this coming just two weeks before a "mini-trial" was to begin. The report notes that special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, who were just recently appointed, are expected to imminently file the paperwork to have the charges dismissed without prejudice. That means it's theoretically possible Baldwin could be charged again in the future if new information is uncovered in their continued investigation.
As for Gutierrez-Reed, the charges against her are still standing, as of now. The Deadline report notes that this may be partly because this keeps the probe open and leaves the door open for "subpoena power for prosecutors going forward."
Assistant director Dave Halls, who's said to have told Baldwin the firearm was "cold" (meaning it was safe to use) on the set, was previously charged with a misdemeanor count of negligent use of a deadly weapon. He pled guilty after accepting a plea deal and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.
Alec Baldwin Avoids Criminal Charges
While Alec Baldwin gets to avoid cirminal charges, at least for now, lawsuits are another matter he's had to deal with. The family of Halyna Hutchins is suing Baldwin and others involved over the incident. That's separate from a prior wrongful death lawsuit that had been filed by Hutchins' widower, Matthew Hutchins, though that suit has since been settled with Matthew joining Rust in an executive producer role, giving his blessings to having the production team finish the film.
"I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin)," Matthew Hutchins had said in a statement. "All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
Rust doesn't yet have a release date, but production is back underway.