New Mexico prosecutors are dropping the involuntary manslaughter charges that were filed against Alec Baldwin for the 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer who was killed on the set of the film “Rust” when a gun he was practicing with went off, his lawyers said.
The decision to drop the charges came after a new team of prosecutors took over the case and reviewed new evidence that showed that the gun Mr. Baldwin was practicing with had been modified before it was delivered to the set, according to an official close to the investigation who was granted anonymity to discuss the case. That undercut the prosecution’s original argument that the gun could not have fired unless Mr. Baldwin had pulled the trigger, the official said.
The official said that pending further investigation, the charges could be refiled, or lesser charges could be filed against Mr. Baldwin.
Mr. Baldwin, who was told on the set that day that the gun did not contain any live ammunition, has maintained from the beginning that he did not pull the trigger before the gun fired, telling investigators that it went off after he had pulled the hammer back and let it go. But the original prosecutors had said that an F.B.I. analysis of the gun showed that he must have pulled the trigger, which contributed to their decision to bring charges.
In a statement, Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said, “We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident.”
The district attorney’s office for Santa Fe County, which had brought the charges against Mr. Baldwin this year, declined to comment. The two special prosecutors who recently took over the case, Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, did not respond to requests for comment. Paperwork officially dismissing those charges is expected to be filed before a status hearing on the case on Friday afternoon.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, who loaded the gun the day of the shooting and was responsible for weapons on the set of the western, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case. One of her lawyers, Jason Bowles, said that he had been informed of the prosecutors’ decision to dismiss the case against Mr. Baldwin, but that the charges against Ms. Gutierrez-Reed remained.
After the news of the decision on Thursday, Mr. Baldwin posted a photo of himself and his wife on Instagram, writing, “I owe everything I have to this woman.” He added, “(and to you, Luke),” apparently referring to one of his lawyers, Mr. Nikas.
On Oct. 21, 2021, the gun Mr. Baldwin was holding on the set of “Rust” went off, killing the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding its director, Joel Souza. Mr. Baldwin had been told that day that the gun he was practicing with — a replica of a vintage revolver — was “cold,” meaning there was no live ammunition in it.
While Mr. Baldwin maintained that he never pulled the trigger, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, a Democrat who was elected in 2020, said when announcing the charges that an F.B.I. analysis of the gun had shown “conclusively” that the trigger had been pulled. But a person with knowledge of the investigation said that Mr. Baldwin’s legal team had recently provided prosecutors with new evidence that the gun had been modified without his knowledge in a way that made it less safe to handle.
The decision to drop the charges against Mr. Baldwin comes as filming on the movie is set to resume this week in Montana, where the production has moved from New Mexico. The revived production has Ms. Hutchins’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, as an executive producer.
It was the latest in a series of setbacks for the prosecution. The charges against Mr. Baldwin had already been downgraded after his lawyers noted that one was based on a law that had not been in effect at the time of the shooting. Then Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor originally appointed to handle the case, stepped down after Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers argued that her appointment violated a provision in the State Constitution that bars serving in two branches of government, since she is also a state lawmaker.
A judge then ruled that Ms. Carmack-Altwies could not appoint any special prosecutor without recusing herself from the case. She stepped down from the case last month, appointing Ms. Morrissey and Mr. Lewis, New Mexico lawyers, as special prosecutors.
Mr. Baldwin has said that he was following direction as he practiced drawing the gun on set that day.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Mr. Baldwin said in a television interview on ABC less than two months after the shooting. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
When her office first announced that it was bringing manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin in January, Ms. Carmack-Altwies said that he had “an absolute duty to know that what is in the gun that is being placed in his hand is safe” — an assertion that was questioned by some actors, armorers, union leaders and others in the film industry.
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing film, television and radio workers, said in a statement at the time that her “contention that an actor has a duty to ensure the functional and mechanical operation of a firearm on a production set is wrong and uninformed” and added that “an actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert.”
The movie’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, who had oversight of safety on the “Rust” set, reached a plea deal with Ms. Carmack-Altwies and Ms. Reeb on a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. Mr. Halls was sentenced to six months of probation.
A judge in New Mexico will decide next month whether the manslaughter charges against Ms. Gutierrez-Reed should move forward. Her lawyer has said she intends to plead not guilty.
