UPDATED 1/31, 7:56 p.m. ET: Alec Baldwin pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge on Wednesday.
According to the New York Times, Baldwin’s plea comes after a grand jury indictment revived the criminal case against him for the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer on the set of the film Rust in 2021.
The 65-year-old actor has consistently denied responsibility for Hutchins' death, claiming he had no reason to believe there would be live rounds on set that day, and that there were crew members in charge of ensuring the gun was safe.
Baldwin’s lawyers, who called the prosecution “misguided,” made a case for urgency in their court filing to “minimize public vilification and suspicion” against the actor to “avoid the hazards of proving his innocence that often arise after lengthy delays in prosecution.”
In addition to his not-guilty plea, Baldwin also waived a virtual court appearance that was scheduled for Thursday.
Hannah Gutieerrez-Reed, a crew member who was in charge of handling guns and ammunition on set, is set to stand trial for an involuntary manslaughter charge in February.
See original story below.
Alec Baldwin has been indicted and will be going to trial for the shooting incident on the set of Rust that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
The decision was made on Friday after prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis presented evidence to a grand jury in New Mexico in the form of an independent forensic test that showed Baldwin would have had to pull the trigger of a revolver he was using in a rehearsal. As a result, Baldwin was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and, if convicted, faces 18 months in prison. No trial date has been set.
"We look forward to our day in court," said Baldwin's attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, of Quinn Emanuel. Gloria Allred, the lawyer for Hutchins' family, said in a statement Friday, "We are looking forward to the criminal trial, which will determine if he should be convicted for the untimely death of Halyna."
In November, NBC News obtained video footage of Baldwin handling a prop gun and chatting with crew members while filming scenes for Rust. The footage contained five videos totaling seven minutes, showing Baldwin firing the guns and acting out his character.
Baldwin has maintained his innocence by explaining he didn't pull the trigger of the "cold" gun in interviews with ABC News and CNN. Assistant director Dave Halls allegedly declared the gun had no live ammunition, which led to him getting hit with a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. He pleaded no contest in March and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.
"I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me," Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in December 2021.
