Judge denies Alec Baldwin’s request to dismiss involuntary manslaughter charges

A New Mexico judge denied actor Alec Baldwin’s request this Friday to have involuntary manslaughter charges dismissed charges against him in the ‘Rust’ film case, and ruled that the case was properly presented to a grand jury.

With Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s ruling, the likelihood of a trial against the actor and producer, who is accused of the death of the cinematographer, increases. Halyna Hutchins during the filming of the movie in 2021, take place this summer.

The lawyers of Alec Baldwin On May 9, they had presented two new petitions to annul the accusation under the argument that the prosecutor in charge of the investigation acted “in bad faith” by not presenting sufficient evidence to the grand jury and improperly instructing it before indicting the actor.

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Also, they indicated that there was no intention on the part of the Prosecutor’s Office to facilitate the jury’s contact with the witnesses who testified that it was not the responsibility of Alec Baldwin verify that the gun was safe to handle on set.

The judge’s decision focused on the details of the grand jury procedure in New Mexico, where the defense does not have the right to call witnesses during the presentation of a case, as reported by the New York Times.

Baldwin charged since 2023

Prosecutors originally charged Alec Baldwin in January 2023, but they dismissed the charges in April for further investigation after the defense raised questions about whether Baldwin’s gun was working properly.

In January 2024, special prosecutors again filed charges against the actor after receiving a new analysis of the gun that ended Hutchins’ life, which found that firearms of that design could be fired without pulling the trigger, only if force was applied to the hammer.

In March, the film’s armory, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. This week, the woman presented a motion asking to be released.

Alec Baldwin faces a possible sentence of 18 months in prison and a fine of thousands of dollars if he is found guilty in the trial that is scheduled to begin on July 9 in Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA).

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