Alec Baldwin no longer facing firearm enhancement in manslaughter charge, prosecutors say

Prosecutors in New Mexico have dropped a firearm enhancement from one of the manslaughter charges against actor and producer Alec Baldwin, officials announced Monday. Baldwin still faces two charges of involuntary manslaughter in the deadly shooting on the set of his film "Rust" in 2021.

With the firearm enhancement, Baldwin could have faced a mandatory five-year sentence.

Baldwin's attorneys had been fighting against the enhancement in court, arguing that prosecutors used a 2022 version of the law that didn't apply to the 2021 shooting. The film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was killed when the gun discharged, and director Joel Souza was wounded.