Alec Baldwin pleads not guilty in Rust case and waives first court appearance
Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter over the shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The 64-year-old entered his plea on Thursday and waived his first formal court appearance.
The actor was due to make his first court appearance on Friday via Google Meet, but chose instead to submit his plea of not guilty through a court filing.
The conditions of Baldwin's release prohibit him from possessing firearms or dangerous weapons and from consuming alcohol, though he has been sober since 1985.
His contact with potential witnesses in the case is also limited and he is not allowed to discuss the fatal incident with them.
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According to court documents, he is only allowed to contact them in relation to things such as finishing the filming of Rust and "other related and unrelated business matters".
Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty (AFP via Getty Images)Prosecutors and defence attorneys are preparing for a likely preliminary hearing within a few months to determine whether there is probable cause to proceed to trial.
Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter over the shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
Mother-of-one Hutchins was killed on the set of Rust in October 2021 when Baldwin discharged a prop gun, which also injured the film's director Joel Souza.
Halyna, 42, was airlifted to hospital from the New Mexico set, but died of her injuries.
Earlier this week, Baldwin had one of the key charges of involuntary manslaughter dropped in the case.
The Santa Fe County District Attorney's office dropped the gun enhancement charge against the actor, which could have seen him jailed for five years.
Halyna was killed in the shooting (Getty Images for AMC Networks)The decision comes after Baldwin's lawyers accused New Mexico prosecutors of committing an "elementary legal error" after charging him under a statute which didn't exist at the time of the shooting.
The first of Baldwin's charges can be referred to as involuntary manslaughter and requires proof of underlying negligence.
The second charge is involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act, which requires proof that there was more than simple negligence involved in a death.
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It included a firearm enhancement, which makes the crime punishable by a mandatory five years in jail.
Baldwin has waived his first court appearance (AFP via Getty Images)According to TMZ however, the charge was dropped after Baldwin's lawyer filed a motion criticising prosecutors for using a law which didn't apply to the actor.
In the filing, his lawyers said such enhancement had only been enacted last May, seven months after the fatal incident.
They added that the charge was "unlawful".
"The prosecutors, in this case, have committed an unconstitutional and elementary legal error by charging Mr Baldwin under a statute that did not exist on the date of the accident," the motion read.
Now that the gun enhancement charge has been removed, Baldwin faces up to 18 months behind bars if he's convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
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