A judge in New Mexico denied Alec Baldwinâs motion to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter indictment against him in the âRustâ fatal shooting case, connected to the 2021 death of the filmâs cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Baldwinâs attorneys had accused prosecutors of misconduct during the grand jury process and sought to have the case dismissed.
In January, Baldwin pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting. Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was injured after a gun Baldwin was holding discharged a live round during a scene rehearsal on the New Mexico set of the western movie. It was the second time the actor pleaded not guilty to charges related to the shooting.
Involuntary manslaughter charges were dropped against Baldwin in 2023, with prosecutors saying in a statement at the time that they could not âproceed under the current time constraints and on the facts and evidence turned over by law enforcement in its existing formâ due to ânew factsâ in the case.
He was charged for a second time and indicted in January.
Baldwinâs lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the indictment in March. They accused prosecutors of engaging in misconduct and said prosecutors âpublicly dragged Baldwin through the cesspool created by their improprieties â without any regard for the fact that serious criminal charges have been hanging over his head for two and a half years.â
Baldwinâs lawyers claimed the prosecution presented false and inaccurate testimony to the grand jury, withheld exculpatory evidence from the grand jury, and gave them improper and prejudicial instructions.
In response to Baldwinâs teamâs March motion to dismiss the indictment, special prosecutors in New Mexico defended their case, saying Baldwinâs behaviour on the âRustâ movie set contributed to âsafety compromisesâ that led to the fatal shooting.
In the order to deny Baldwinâs motion to dismiss, the judge said despite the defenseâs claims,there was no prosecutorial bad faith, as Baldwinâs legal team had claimed, and proper procedures were followed in the grand jury process.
In the ruling, the judge said âafter review of transcripts from the January 18, 2024 and January 19, 2024 grand jury presentations, the Court does not find that the âprosecuting attorney assisting the grand juryâ engaged in âintentional misconductâ reflecting âdishonesty of belief, purpose, or motiveâ in the course of the attorneyâs âpresentation of evidence to the grand jury.ââ
The filmâs armourer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was responsible for firearm safety and storage on the movieâs set, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March. She was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison and is appealing.
In a short statement to CNN following a judgeâs refusal to dismiss charges against Baldwin, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro from the actorâs legal team said: âWe look forward to our day in court.â
This is a developing story and will be updated.