Actor Alec Baldwin could avoid jail time after Santa Fe prosecutors drop key charge in ‘Rust’ case

Prosecutors in Santa Fe have dropped a gun enhancement charge against Alec Baldwin which means he could escape going to prison.

It was confirmed this afternoon, Monday, February 20, that prosecutors have dropped a key charge against actor Alec Baldwin. He had been facing a gun enhancement charge in the case of the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of ‘Rust’.

However, according to the celebrity news outlet TMZ, prosecutors from the Santa Fe County District Attorney’s office in New Mexico decided to drop the charge after Baldwin’s lawyer filed a motion.

The actor’s legal team claimed that under New Mexico law, that charge could not be brought against their client. A gun enhancement charge can only be brought when the person holding it can be proved to have ‘brandished’ it with intent to injure or intimidate a person they reminded the D.A.

It was pointed out that the prosecutor’s office was trying to pin a recent amendment to the law on the actor. His legal team reminded them that the change in the law occurred seven months after the alleged shooting took place.

Baldwin still faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, but now that the other charge has been dropped, even if convicted it is now possible that he might not be handed a prison sentence.

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