FILE PHOTO: Actor Alec Baldwin seems in court docket in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 23, 2019.
| Photo Credit: POOL
Defense attorneys for Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico choose on Thursday to dismiss a grand jury indictment in opposition to the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie Rust.
The indictment in January charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the dying of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, at a film ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the charge. His attorneys in a brand new court docket submitting accused prosecutors of “unfairly stacking the deck” against Baldwin in grand jury proceedings that diverted attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.
They say that prevented the jury from asserting their obligation to hear testimony from director Joel Souza, who was wounded in the shooting while standing near Hutchins, as well as assistant director and safety coordinator Dave Halls and props master Sarah Zachry.
“The grand jury did not receive the favorable or exculpatory testimony and documents that the state had an obligation to present,” said the court motion signed by defense attorney Luke Nikas. “Nor was the grand jury told it had a right to review and the obligation to request this information.”
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey declined to comment and said a response will be filed with the court.
Baldwin’s motion also asserts that the grand jury received inaccurate and one-sided testimony about the revolver involved in the fatal shooting.
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted by a jury last week in the shooting and is being held with out bond pending an April sentencing listening to. Involuntary manslaughter carries a felony sentence of as much as 18 months in jail and a $5,000 high-quality.
Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and injuring Souza. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled again the gun’s hammer, however not the set off.
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed at a two-week trial for unwittingly bringing reside ammunition onto the set of “Rust” the place it was expressly prohibited. They additionally mentioned she didn’t comply with primary gun-safety protocols.
Halls final 12 months pleaded no contest to negligent dealing with of a firearm and accomplished a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation.
Baldwin is scheduled for trial in July.