Alec Baldwin pleads not guilty to the death of Halyna Hutchins

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Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge. On the eve of the first hearing in the trial for the fatal shooting on the set of his film Rust, the actor has once again denied responsibility for what happened on the set of the film, when a bullet fired from a gun he was holding fatally injured the film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Baldwin was formally indicted on January 31, along with armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and faces up to 18 months in prison. However, the Santa Fe prosecutor's office decided not to apply a New Mexico law which, in the recently amended formulation, would have increased the sentence to a minimum of five years in prison.

The law, at the time of the tragic accident, provided that, in order to be enforced, the pistol he was holding must be brandished with the intention of threatening or harming the target. Seven months after Hutchins' death the rules had been amended.

Meanwhile, the production of Rust has announced that the set will reopen in the spring in Montana. Baldwin is still on board in the title role while facing manslaughter charges in New Mexico. Alec Baldwin wanted to complete the filming of Rust after the accident that resulted in the death of director of photography Halyna Hutchins, who was hit by a bullet from a gun that was holding the US movie star in the hand.

New York Times said Baldwin is attempting to urge the rest of the cast and crew to finish the film to honor Halyna Hutchins' memory. The project also plans to support the woman's son and widower through the film's profits.

On 21 October, the actor had fired a shot with a prop gun during rehearsals for a shoot. The shot from the weapon, as mentioned, killed the director of photography Halyna Hutchins and injured the director of the film Joel Souza.

Baldwin has always stated that assistant director Dave Halls told him the gun was blanks. Alec Baldwin had already entered a maelstrom of investigation and controversy over the death of the director of photography of his film Rust, killed by a bullet from a gun in Baldwin's hand.

Rust director Joel Souza was injured but survived, while Halyna Hutchins died after being flown to the University of New Mexico hospital. During a recent interview with ABC News, Baldwin claimed he did not pull the trigger on the gun that fatally wounded Hutchins, even though he was aiming what he thought was a harmless prop in his direction when he fired.