Lawyers for Alec Baldwin ripped New Mexico prosecutors this week for committing a legal gaffe in their manslaughter case against the embattled actor.
Sante Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies was compelled to drop a legal enhancement against Baldwin because the fatal incident occurred six months before the related law took effect.
Baldwin, 64, faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, in October 2021.
Prosecutors initially tacked on what is known as a firearm enhancement, which extends the prison sentences of certain crimes committed with guns.
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Alec Baldwin will return to “Rust” production in lead role after criminal charges for cinematographer’s death. (MEGA)
However, they committed a “basic legal error” in applying the law retroactively, Baldwin’s lawyers wrote.
With the enhancement, the “30 Rock” star would have faced a mandatory minimum of five years – and now faces a far less imposing maximum term of 18 months.
The defense’s initial motion to yank the enhancement presented “clearly correct” legal arguments that demanded careful consideration by the prosecution, the attorneys wrote.
Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for National Geographic/Mat Hayward/Getty Images for AMC Networks)
“Instead, a spokesperson for the government immediately issued an extraordinary statement to the media characterizing the motion as an ‘attempt to distract’ from the case by Mr. Baldwin’s ‘fancy lawyers,’” the letter states.
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Two days after the government issued the pointed statement, special prosecutor Andrea Reeb emailed Baldwin’s legal team and said she was “a tad confused” by their motion and requested that they withdraw it.
The emails were included as exhibits in the letter.
“It does not correlate to how the process works here in New Mexico. Local counsel should have advised you of that issue,” Reeb wrote.
Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where actor Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger on a prop gun while filming “Rust” and unwittingly killed a cinematographer and injured a director. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong | instagram)
Baldwin’s lead lawyer Luke Nikas is from out of state, and he is working with local attorney Heather LeBlanc on the case.
“This often happens when we are dealing with out of state attys and local counsel who doesn’t specialize in the criminal area,” Reeb wrote before threatening sanctions if the motion was not withdrawn.
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She also directed the attorneys to “review the law.”
However, Reeb made a surprising U-turn in a follow-up email two hours later. “I 100 percent agree with your assessment on the issue,” she wrote. “I will have our documents drafted to amend the criminal information to take off the firearm enhancement.”
Baldwin’s lawyers are also trying to get Reeb disqualified as a special prosecutor in the case, arguing that it is a conflict of interest for her to also hold public office.
She was hired to assist in the “Rust” case before she was elected in November to the New Mexico House of Representatives.
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Baldwin is charged alongside armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed in the accidental death of Hutchins on the film set.
The actor allegedly pointed the gun at Hutchins and fired a live round Oct. 21, 2021, killing her and wounding the film’s director Joel Souza.
“Rust” will resume shooting this spring with no working weapons, and Baldwin will remain the film’s lead actor and producer, according to Variety.
