Alec Baldwin Reportedly Offered Plea Deal Ahead Of 'Rust' Shooting Trial
By Kristin Myers on March 16, 2024 at 9:30 AM EDT
Updated on March 16, 2024 at 9:37 AM EDT
Actor Alec Baldwin was offered a plea deal ahead of his "Rust" trial, which has been scheduled for July 2024.
The "30 Rock" actor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the October 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Earlier this month, it took a jury less than three hours to find armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She faces 18 months behind bars. Her sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 15.
Alec Baldwin Offered Plea Deal In 'Rust' Shooting
On October 21, 2021, a gun that Alec Baldwin was holding went off. The bullet struck and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The bullet went through her and hospitalized director Joel Souza, who was standing directly behind her.
During the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Joel Souza testified that he could not believe that he had been struck by a real bullet on a movie set. How live ammunition ended up on a movie set has been a subject of much debate; however, law enforcement officials still do not know how the ammunition ended up on set or in the gun that Alec Baldwin was holding.
Alec Baldwin Did Not Accept Plea Deal
On Friday, according to a new report by Variety, the "Supercell" actor was offered a plea deal last October. However, the plea deal was withdrawn before the actor could accept it and his legal team was warned that prosecutors would pursue charges.
According to the court documents, the offer was made on October 5, 2023, and Baldwin had until October 27 to accept it. However, on October 17, prosecutors pulled the offer and warned that they planned to pursue criminal charges.
In January 2023, both Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The charges against the 65-year-old actor were dropped in April 2023 pending further investigation.
Charges against Baldwin were refiled in January 2024 following a report from the FBI that concluded that the gun could not have gone off without the trigger being pulled, even though Baldwin has maintained that he never pulled the trigger in interviews dating back to December 2021. He has entered a plea of not guilty.
Baldwin Seeks To Have 'Rust' Case Dismissed
As Variety previously reported, Alec Baldwin is trying to get the case against him dismissed. His legal team has argued that the prosecution has "rigged" the case against him, resulting in an unfair trial.
According to the documents, before refiling the charges against him, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey had offered “a plea deal identical to the petty misdemeanor deal accepted by Dave Halls.”
David Halls was the first assistant director on the set of the Western film. In January 2023, Halls accepted a plea deal for one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon. He was given six months of unsupervised probation, a $500 fine, 24 hours of community service, and an order to take a firearm safety class.
During the trial against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Halls testified that he had since retired and confirmed that his testimony was not a part of his plea deal.
Baldwin's Legal Team Has Accused The Prosecution Of Leaking Confidential Information
Baldwin’s legal team has argued that the special prosecutors assigned to the case have been trying to "stack the deck" against Alec Baldwin.
They have even claimed that an anonymous source that spoke to an NBC News reporter about the case was actually lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey.
In November 2023, Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas filed a motion to have Morrissey and her co-counsel Jason Lewis removed from the case. Nikas also asked the court to impose monetary penalties against Morrissey for allegedly leaking confidential information.
On November 15, at a confidential hearing, a judge overseeing the case warned the prosecution not to disclose anything about the case to the media, warning that it could taint a potential jury pool. However, the prosecutors were not removed from the case.
'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Having A Tough Time In Prison
"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is seeking to appeal the involuntary manslaughter charges. It only took a jury of seven women and five men less than three hours in order to return a guilty verdict in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Her attorney, Jason Bowles, told TMZ that she is having a tough time in the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility, where she is currently staying until her sentencing hearing on April 15.
Alec Baldwin's trial, if it is not dismissed, is scheduled to begin on July 9, 2024.
