Alec Baldwin Requests 'Firearm Enhancement' Carrying 5-Year Sentence be Dropped from 'Rust' Charges

Alec Baldwin‘s legal team is taking steps to get an enhanced charge dropped that stems from the Rust shooting.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the actor’s charge of involuntary manslaughter was accompanied by a “firearm enhancement” that was not in place at the time of the accidental shooting that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins.

While the maximum prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter is only 18 months, the enhancement carries a max of five years.

In formal court documents, his representation called the addition of the enhancement a “basic legal error,” according to Variety.

“The prosecutors committed a basic legal error by charging Mr. Baldwin under a version of the firearm-enhancement statute that did not exist on the date of the accident,” they wrote. “That version of the statute could not apply to conduct that occurred before it was enacted.”

Additionally, Alec‘s team pointed out that the enhancement can only be applied to cases where the assailant uses a firearm with “intent to intimidate or injure a person.”

Alec is at the center of another lawsuit stemming from the tragedy.