Actor Alec Baldwin pleaded not guilty Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, to a new charge of negligent homicide in the October 2021 shooting death of filmmaker Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust.”

The actor was retried in the shooting, nearly a year after prosecutors dropped similar charges against him. At the time, the prosecutor’s office said it would continue to investigate the matter and could file new charges.

Baldwin made the confession as he waived his right to stand trial, court documents show.

Prosecutors brought the case to a grand jury in Santa Fe earlier this month, arguing that Baldwin caused the filmmaker’s death either through negligence or a complete disregard for safety. The grand jury chose to indict.

The actor, who also co-produced the film, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal in October 2021 when the gun went off, hitting her and injuring the film’s director, Joel Souza. Hutchins died at a nearby hospital.

In an interview in 2021, Baldwin said he believed the gun was safe and loaded with “bullets” and denied responsibility for the shooting.

“I feel like someone is responsible for what happened, but I know it’s not me. I could have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don’t say that lightly,” he said.

The prosecution’s case focuses on his role as the actor who held the gun, as well as his role as a co-producer with legal responsibility for the production’s safety. However, an independent forensic examination concluded that Baldwin would have had to pull the trigger of the revolver to fire the bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest and killed her.

“Although the actor repeatedly denies that he pulled the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations cited, the trigger had to be pulled or pulled sufficiently to produce this effect,” the analysis states. Alec Baldwin’s defense called the situation a “terrible tragedy” that “resulted in this misguided prosecution.”