Alec Baldwin apparently didn’t want to go through the circus of Zooming into New Mexico to face the renewed charges against him — so, he’s skipping it, and entering a plea from an even further distance.
The actor waived his appearance that was set for Thursday morning, where he was due to beam into a courthouse in Santa Fe County and tell the court how he feels about the involuntary manslaughter charge that was re-filed against him in recent weeks.
Instead, he just submitted a not-guilty plea through his attorneys … opting to pass on a virtual pop-in. Makes sense — he’s already telegraphed his game plan, signaling through lawyers that he wants this all done quickly and out of the spotlight.
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Remember, Alec made clear last week that he has the right to a speedy trial … emphasizing the fact he does NOT want to drag this out any longer than it needs to be. There are some conditions of release he has to abide by too — no consuming booze, no illegal substances and no firearms and no leaving the U.S. without written permission … the usual.
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Now, that he’s pled not guilty … the case can continue, and he’ll eventually have to come to court for the trial itself. Considering Alec has been denying any wrongdoing from the start — all signs point to him fighting this thing to the very end, in front of a jury.
Alec has gotten some support lately on this front — specifically, from SAG-AFTRA … which put out a statement saying it’s not an actor’s job to check firearms on set.
Remember, the D.A.’s office there already tried prosecuting him once — but dropped the charges … only to resurrect them again through a grand jury, presumably on newer evidence they think makes their case solid.
With Alec’s not-guilty plea now in the record, we can get on with this once and for all.