Attorney Gloria Allred told Newsmax on Tuesday that a technicality in New Mexico state law led prosecutors to scale down manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin.
Joining "Eric Bolling The Balance," Allred explained why firearm enhancement charges levied against Baldwin, originating from the fatal "Rust" movie set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021, were dropped.
"The reason that they dismissed that is essentially a technical and very important reason," Allred explained. "The law, under which they were prosecuting him, turns out was not even signed into law some months until after the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins.
"That leaves him with an involuntary manslaughter charge that, if convicted of, the maximum sentence would be 18 months in prison, and that's discretionary with the judge," she added.
Allred also noted that the firearm enhancement charges would have extended the 18 months substantially if he were convicted, carrying a five-year prison sentence.
New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies made the decision to file altered indictments against Baldwin and set-armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, which removed firearm enhancement charges on Feb. 17.
The changes to New Mexico's criminal code were signed into law by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in March 2022 after passing the legislature two months prior. The law later took effect in May, almost seven months before the "Rust" shooting.
According to Variety, gun enhancement charges in October 2021 required that the defendant show "intent to intimidate or injure a person," a path that prosecutors have written off as a possibility.
Her comments follow a new civil lawsuit that Allred's group filed against Baldwin and other parties earlier this month which alleges "battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and loss of consortium" for Hutchins' family.
"The theory of that case is loss of consortium, not wrongful death," the attorney said, adding that "it's essentially the loss of the relationship the parents had with their daughter and that the sister had with her sister."
Allred, Maroko & Goldberg has also been representing "Rust" script supervisor Mamie Mitchell in another lawsuit against Baldwin and other executives since November 2021.
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!