Alec Baldwin Pleads Not Guilty To 'Rust' Shooting Manslaughter Charge

LOS ANGELES, CA — Alec Baldwin on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the film "Rust," according to court documents.

Baldwin, 65, made the plea via a document submitted to the court in New Mexico where he is being prosecuted.

As conditions of Baldwin's continued release, the actor cannot possess any firearms or weapons, consume any alcohol or illegal drugs, leave the country or have contact with possible witnesses in the case, District Court Judge T. Glenn Ellington ruled on Wednesday.

Baldwin on Jan. 19 was indicted on the charge by a grand jury. It comes a year after a manslaughter case was first brought against Baldwin in the death of Halyna Hutchins.

Prosecutors dropped that case in April, the New York Times reported.

Baldwin, a star and producer of "Rust," has maintained that he was not responsible for Hutchins' death. The cinematographer was fatally wounded by a bullet shot from a gun Baldwin was holding during a rehearsal, authorities said.

A bullet also wounded the director, Joel Souza.

The actor has said he was told the gun did not contain any live rounds. Live ammunition had also been banned on set — any guns used in the film were supposed to be loaded with inert ammunition, authorities said.

Both the decision to drop the earlier indictment and revive the manslaughter charges may be linked to forensic analysis of the gun.

The initial charges were dropped as Baldwin's attorney's questioned whether the prop gun that Baldwin was holding on the movie set during a rehearsal was functioning properly when it fired a live round that killed Hutchins and wounded film director Joel Souza.

Sources told the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal that the case against Baldwin was weakened by evidence showing that the gun the actor was holding had been modified, making it possible to misfire without the trigger being pulled.

Bladwin said that he didn't pull the trigger, though a forensic report commissioned by prosecutors determined that Baldwin must have pulled the trigger in order for it to go off. Those findings contributed to their decision to revive the case, the Times reported.

The "Rust" armorer — the member of the props department who managed firearms on set — also faces an involuntary manslaughter charge. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty to the charge and is set to stand for a trial set to begin Feb. 21 and last two weeks, court documents show.

While the proceeding is shrouded in secrecy, two of the witnesses seen at the courthouse included crew members — one who was present when the fatal shot was fired and another who had walked off the set the day before due to safety concerns.

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.