Celebrity actor Alec Baldwin filed an innocence plea on Thursday in connection with a manslaughter charge stemming from a fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust” in New Mexico, court documents showed.
Baldwin, who is expected to appear for the first time before a judge tomorrow, Friday, filed the petition through a lawsuit.
Mary Carmack-Altoys, US Attorney for the 1st District of New Mexico, charged Baldwin and the film’s gun inspector, Hannah Gutierrez Reid, with involuntary manslaughter last month in connection with the death of cinematographer Helena Hutchins, who was shot by Baldwin during filming.
Both Baldwin and the gun handler, Gutierrez Reed, were charged with two counts of manslaughter. The more serious charge, which could carry up to five years in prison, requires prosecutors to convince the jury that Baldwin was not only negligent, but reckless in his use of the firearm.
Probable cause is contained in a statement attached to the charges that describes Baldwin as an actor and producer of the film: “On the day of shooting alone, the evidence shows that no less than 12 acts, or omissions of the bounds of recklessness, occurred in the short time before lunch and the time of shooting, and this does not includes reckless handling of a firearm by Baldwin.”
Baldwin denies responsibility for the shooting, saying he aimed the gun but never pulled the trigger, and that it was the job of Gutierrez-Reed and other gun officials to make sure there were no bullets in it.
Hutchins was born in Ukraine, where her parents and sister live near Kiev. In her suit, attorney Gloria Allred said her family is seeking, under New Mexico law, unspecified compensation from Baldwin, the film’s crew and producers for the loss of Halena.