Alec Baldwin urges judge to stand by Rust involuntary manslaughter dismissal

21 September 2024, 02:44

Baldwin Set Shooting
Baldwin Set Shooting. Picture: PA

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider.

Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to scuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.

State district court judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defence in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.

The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.

Baldwin Set Shooting
FILE – Actor Alec Baldwin attends his trial for involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (Ramsay de Give/AP)

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin’s due process rights had not been violated.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on Rust, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ killing.

Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers alleged that they “buried” it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.

In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described “egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct” by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.

Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link between the live ammo on set and Gutierrez-Reed, to drive home the argument that Baldwin should have recognised the armourer’s blundering youth and inexperience.

“Baldwin was entitled to pursue the truth at trial, especially after he requested to see ‘all rounds, casings and deconstructed rounds’ in the state’s possession,” the new court filing by the defence states.

“Yet the state deliberately withheld the evidence that Baldwin had requested.”

The film set of Rust
The film set of Rust, at Bonanza Creek Ranch, in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Jae C Hong/AP)

Rust movie armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving an 18-month sentence on a conviction for involuntary manslaughter.

She was accused of flouting standard safety protocols and missing multiple opportunities to detect forbidden live ammunition on set.

Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no-contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.

A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Tesla Cybertrucks

Tesla recalls almost 700,000 vehicles due to tyre warning light problem

German market

Death toll rises to five after car driven into Christmas market in Germany

Israel Mideast Tensions Yemen

16 injured after rocket fired from Yemen hits Tel Aviv

Five Dead And Dozens Injured After Car Plows Into Magdeburg Christmas Market

'A terrible, insane act': Five confirmed dead and more than 200 injured in Christmas market attack as suspect named

Forensic officers work on a damaged car

Germany mourns victims after BMW driven into Christmas market

Local officials look at damage in Kazan

Ukrainian drones target Russian city 600 miles from the front line

At Least Two Dead And Dozens Injured After Car Plows Into Magdeburg Christmas Market

Everything we know about Germany Christmas market attack and arrested Saudi doctor so far

At least two people including a toddler have died and 68 more have been injured after a car ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germany.

Number of deaths could continue to rise, official warns, after car ploughs into crowd at Christmas market killing four

APTOPIX Congress Budget

US Senate passes government funding bill to avoid shutdown

Emergency services at the Christmas market in Magdeburg

At least two people dead after car driven into crowd at German Christmas market

People play in the water at Ulee Lheue beach which was one of the areas hardest hit by Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, in Banda Aceh

Indonesians mark two decades since Boxing Day tsunami

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson

US Congress passes bill to avoid government shutdown

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

House approves funding bill and sends to Senate hours before shutdown deadline

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

House speaker says Republicans have agreed on a new spending deal

People hold a photo of history teacher Samuel Paty

French court convicts eight people of involvement in 2020 beheading of teacher

Greece's former royal family

Greece’s former royal family seeks to reclaim citizenship