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Baldwin pleaded guilty and waived his arraignment.
Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in New Mexico.
The actor pleaded guilty in a court document filed Wednesday, waiving his arraignment, which was scheduled to take place virtually Thursday.
Under the terms of his release, the actor is ordered not to possess firearms, among other conditions, court documents show.
A grand jury indicted the 65-year-old actor in January for involuntary manslaughter, a fourth-degree felony that carries a sentence of up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
In response to the indictment last month, Baldwin’s attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, said, “We look forward to our day in court.”
This is the second time Baldwin has been charged with manslaughter in the deadly on-set shooting.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies previously charged Baldwin in January 2023. He had pleaded not guilty in a court filing.
After Carmack-Altwies resigned from the case, newly appointed special prosecutors investigating the “Rust” shooting dropped their case against the actor in April 2023, less than two weeks before a scheduled preliminary hearing, although they noted that their investigation was still “active and ongoing.”
Special prosecutors said in October 2023 that they believed Baldwin had “criminal culpability” in the fatal shooting and that they planned to present the case to the grand jury to determine whether there was probable cause to charge him.
The actor was practicing a cross drawing on the Santa Fe set in October 2021 when the gun went off, fatally wounding Hutchins, 42. Director Joel Souza also suffered a non-life-threatening injury.
“Rust” gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting. She pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection in his trial is scheduled to begin on February 21 in Santa Fe County. The trial is expected to begin on February 22 and last two weeks.
Her attorneys have previously said they hope a jury will find her not guilty. They said she “begged to be provided with more firearms training” on set, but was “denied and pushed aside.”