Alec Baldwin on Friday asked a New Mexico judge to dismiss a five-year sentence for firearms in the charges against him because it was unconstitutional under a statute passed after the filming on the set of the movie Rust.
“Prosecutors made a fundamental error of law in charging Mr. Baldwin under a version of the Firearms Improvement Act that did not exist at the time of the accident,” Baldwin’s attorneys said in a court filing.
Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reedthe weapons supervisor on the set of the western, were charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last month.
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on October 21, 2021. Baldwin pointed a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Hutchins’ parents and sister filed a lawsuit about Thursday’s shooting after filing a similar lawsuit Husband and son was agreed.
Baldwin’s attorneys also filed a motion Tuesday disqualify the special counsel In the case, she claimed that her position as a state legislature constitutionally bars her from holding any authority in a judicial capacity.
Baldwin’s legal team is aggressively pushing back before he even makes his first court appearance, which is scheduled to take place via video conference later this month. Baldwin was not arrested.
The manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed have two alternative standards and sentences, and a jury can decide which to pursue, prosecutors said.
One version would require proof of negligence, which under New Mexico law carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The second alternative is reckless disregard for safety “without due caution and caution.” It carries a higher threshold for misconduct and includes the weapon upgrade, which could result in a mandatory five-year sentence.
But legal experts said Baldwin has a strong chance of being kicked out.
“This is a violation of the ex post facto clause of the Constitution,” said Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. “The government cannot pass a law and penalize someone under that law retrospectively. The judge will likely throw out that improvement and Baldwin only carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.
A message asking for prosecutors to comment on the application was not immediately returned.
In court documents, prosecutors said reckless safety lapses accompanied the film’s production from the beginning and that Baldwin’s “deviation from known standards, practices and protocols directly caused Hutchins’ death.”
They cited Baldwin’s failure as an actor to show up for mandatory firearms training prior to filming and his decision as a producer to work with Gutierrez-Reed, who was an uncertified and inexperienced gunsmith.
That’s what Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas, said Charges have been announced that they were “a terrible miscarriage of justice”.
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Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Morgan Lee of Santa Fe, New Mexico contributed to this report.
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Follow AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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