PROSECUTORS have downgraded the involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin, reducing the possible prison time the Hollywood star may face for the 2021 fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust,” charging documents showed.

New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, Mary Carmack-Altwies, had charged Baldwin and the movie’s set armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, with two counts of involuntary manslaughter last month for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, with the most serious charge carrying a potential prison sentence of five years.

Carmack-Altwies filed altered charges for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed last Friday, removing the firearm enhancement and reducing their possible prison sentence from a minimum of five years to a maximum of 18 months.

“In order to avoid further litigious distractions by Mr. Baldwin and his attorneys, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have removed the firearm enhancement to the involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the “Rust” film set,” Heather Brewer, a spokesperson for the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, said in a statement.

Lawyers for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed had argued earlier this month that prosecutors were unjustly charging their clients under a version of the firearm enhancement law that had not been passed until May 2022, months after the incident. (Reuters)