One Of Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” Shooting Charges Was Dropped, Which Could Keep Him From Serving Jail Time 

Sexy mamá oso Hilaria Baldwin can hang up her empathy titters and brew her coffee at home for a bit, because Alec Baldwin might’ve finally caught a break in his Rust shooting case. Alec is still facing involuntary manslaughter charges for firing the shots that killed Halyna Hutchins, but a “gun enhancement” charge he was also slapped with at the time of his indictment was just dropped after his attorney called on the Santa Fe District Attorney to throw that charge out since it wasn’t a law at the time the shooting occurred. Now that that charge is off the table, he may avoid jail time.

TMZ says the Santa Fe D.A. made the decision to drop the gun enhancement charge today after Alec’s attorney successfully argued that it shouldn’t apply since the version of the charge that was on the books back when the shooting occurred on October 21, 2021 included the stipulation that the defendant had to have “brandished” the gun with the threat or intent to harm, which wasn’t what happened when Alec committed the profoundly irresponsible and idiotic accident. The D.A. originally charged Alec with the newly amended law, in which the wording was changed to delete the “brandishing” qualifier.  It wasn’t passed until months after the shooting, though.

The D.A. dropped the gun enhancement charge in the case … this after Baldwin’s lawyer filed a motion excoriating prosecutors for going after the actor using a law that didn’t apply.

As we reported, Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins. The D.A. initially tacked on the gun enhancement charge — i.e., using a gun to commit the crime. Problem is, at the time of the shooting, New Mexico law provided a gun enhancement charge could only apply if the gun was “brandished” — meaning the gun was displayed with intent to intimidate or injure a person. That’s clearly not the case with Baldwin.

For some reason, the D.A. felt Baldwin could be charged with a recent amendment to the gun enhancement law, that doesn’t require brandishing. Thing is … that law was not enacted until 7 months after the shooting.

This is a big win for Equipo Baldwin (even though he wasn’t able to get the special prosecutor dismissed), since the gun enhancement charge stacked on top of the involuntary manslaughter charge could’ve made it possible for him to get five years in the clink. Without it, the prison sentence could be much less–or he might not even see any prison time at all and just get probation. The charge was also dropped for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the movie’s armorer who’s also facing charges.

Here’s why it matters … if the gun enhancement charge stuck and Baldwin was convicted, he’d face a minimum of 5 years in prison. Now that it’s been 86’d, if Baldwin is convicted of involuntary manslaughter, he’d face up to 18 months behind bars, but the judge could give him less … or even probation.

I wonder how Alec is feeling about this news; I bet that rundown pepaw was starting to accept the idea of a five-year prison nap to get some time away from his squawking Spanglish bruja wife and their fart-scented child army barracks. He better schedule that long-overdue vasectomy, stat, or the probation time he’s likely going to walk away with is going to be filled with forced procreation!

Pic: Janet Mayer/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images