Alec Baldwin’s Rust hearing gets loud after a request to dismiss the charges against the actor is called into question

Last Updated on May 22, 2024

Update:

Today’s two-hour hearing regarding Alec Baldwin’s involvement in the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins took a nasty turn toward the session’s end. After Judge Mary Marlowe Summer said she’d consider the motion to dismiss a grand jury indictment against Baldwin for involuntary manslaughter in the tragic shooting, Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey shouted at defense attorney Alex Spiro, saying, “I’m not going to sit here and be called a liar!”

“I have no idea what Mr. Spiro is talking about,” the Special Prosecutor clapped back.  “Everything he is saying to you right now is a complete misrepresentation of what has happened,” she told the Land of Enchantment judge about Spiro’s claims. “That’s what these people do,” Morrissey barked.

Regardless of the heated arguments presented by Baldwin’s lawyers, Morrissey rejected most of what was said. “The defense wants somehow to try to convince the court that the actor who is holding a real gun in his hand has absolutely no responsibility for what he does with that gun,” Morrissey declared. “And it’s simply not the case.”

“There’s no bad faith here …we are presenting the facts to the grand jury as we see them,” Morrissey added, pointing out the evidence.

“The reason that this death occurred is because the safety protocol was not followed,” Morrissey said, lending weight to another witness who detailed set safety to the Grand Jury. “That’s the reason Halyna Hutchins died.”

Original Article:

A New Mexico judge is mulling over whether or not to grant Alec Baldwin’s request to have a grand jury indictment against him dropped. The indictment charges the 30 Rock and Beetlejuice actor with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Joel Souza-directed Western Rust.

Baldwin shot Hutchins on October 21, 2021, on Rust‘s Bonanza Creek Ranch set just outside Santa Fe after a gun he was holding during a rehearsal discharged a live round. Baldwin says he never pulled the trigger. A jury will investigate his claim in a court of law and decide his fate. Rust director Joel Souza was also injured in the incident.

Baldwin vehemently opposes the charge against him, and his attorneys have pressed the court for a dismissal. If found guilty, the manslaughter charge could land Baldwin in jail for a maximum jail sentence of 1.5 years. Baldwin’s plea to dismiss the charge stems from an argument that the grand jury received inaccurate and biased testimony about the gun he fired on the Rust set.

“The fix was in,” said defense attorney Alex Spiro. “There were no witnesses there to testify. There was no evidence binder of the defense exhibits.”

“They never intended for the grand jury to ask for witnesses,” he continued. “They never wanted the grand jury to ask for exhibits.”

Meanwhile, special prosecutors say Baldwin’s attempt to escape punishment for his part in the tragic shooting is “shameless.” They also claim his testimony is littered with contradictions to what he initially told law enforcement agents.

Baldwin had a brief reprieve from the Halyna Hutchins case when the judge and jury focused on Rust‘s weapons supervisor, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors last year dismissed an earlier involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin after evidence suggested a modification to the weapon was the cause of its malfunction. However, after careful inspection, the court reinstated the charge. Prosecutors now need to determine if Baldwin acted with “due caution” or if his actions resulted from “an act committed with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.”

Rust, which resumed production after the fatal shooting, also stars Travis Fimmel and Frances Fisher. The story focuses on a boy left to fend for himself and his younger brother following their parents’ deaths in the 1880s.