Alec Baldwin Manslaughter Charges To Be Dropped (Report)

Just weeks after Alec Baldwin had two counts of involuntary manslaughter levied against him the actor will reportedly now have all charges dropped. Deadline brings word of the development, reporting that special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis will files the paperwork to dismiss charges against Alec Baldwin soon, maybe even today. For those that have been following hte case, which resulted after Baldwin allegedly shot a gun containing a live round on set of the film Rust, which fatally shot cinematographer HalynaHutchins and injured director and writer Joel Souza. The story isn’t over however.

It’s worth noting that the charges being dropped against Baldwin are being done so “without prejudice,” meaning that the prosecuting attorneys may file charges based on the incident later on. The trade goes on to add that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the former armorer on Rust and Baldwin’s co-defendant, still has charges being held against them. The case against Baldwin has hit some major snags in recent months. Not only did special prosecutor Andrea Reeb depart, but the proescutors also had to drop some of the charges against both defendants. Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have both plead not guilty.

Alec Baldwin has maintained his innocence throughout, even revealing in an interview with ABC News‘ George Stephanopoulos that he never even pulled the trigger on the gun. “Everything is at her direction,” Baldwin said, referencing Hutchins positioning him in frame for the next shot of the movie. “She’s guiding me through how she wants me to hold the gun for this angle. I’m holding the gun where she told me to hold it, which ended up being aimed right below her armpit.”

He continued, “So, I take the gun and I start to cock the gun. I’m not going to pull the trigger. And I cock the gun, I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’ And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. I let go of the hammer of the gun – the gun goes off…I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never. Never. That was the training that I had.”

Production on Rust is scheduled to begin again soon, with Deadline revealing it starts tomorrow. Filming on the movie is set to shift locations however, leaving New Mexico and filming the rest of the project in Montana. Baldwin plays the titular outlaw Harland Rust in the movie. The actor is also still facing lawsuits from the family of the late Halyna Hutchins and also from several Rust crew members. A wrongful death suit filed by the husband and son of Halyna Hutchins was settled earlier this week.

(Cover Photo by Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for National Geographic)