Rust shooting: Baldwin’s attorneys say prosecutors made ‘a basic legal error’

Attorneys say in court filing that law used to seek five-year term for actor Alec Baldwin was not in force at time of incident

Attorneys defending the actor Alec Baldwin from an involuntary manslaughter charge in the film-set killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins are urging a judge to stop prosecutors from seeking a five-year prison sentence, saying the law authorizing that punishment did not exist when the shooting occurred.

In court documents filed on Friday, lawyers for Baldwin contended that allowing New Mexico state prosecutors to charge the actor under a gun enhancement law would violate a clause in the US constitution that prohibits retroactively changing the legal consequences of actions.