Alec Baldwin’s lawyers have asked a judge to dismiss manslaughter charges levelled against him over the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set.
Halyna Hutchins died when a Colt. 45 revolver Baldwin was rehearsing with fired a live round that also wounded director Joel Souza during filming of the Western movie Rust.
The Hollywood actor faces two counts of manslaughter, one for negligent use of a firearm and another for failure to exercise due caution – and faces a maximum of 18 months in prison if found guilty.
But his lawyers argue “enough is enough”, adding: “This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme.”
It comes eight days after a jury found the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a separate trial.
She is due to be sentenced on 15 April and faces up to 18 months in prison, while Baldwin’s trial is scheduled for 10 July in New Mexico.
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Criminal defendants routinely seek to dismiss charges, which judges rarely do, but charges against Baldwin have been dropped once already.
Baldwin’s lawyers argue prosecutors have “publicly dragged Baldwin through the cesspool created by their improprieties”.
Additionally, they offered legal arguments including that the state withheld “substantial exculpatory and favourable evidence” from the grand jury.
For example, they said prosecutors failed to call a witness who would have testified that Baldwin’s role as producer was purely for creative purposes and he had no role in safety protocols or hiring crew.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said she would respond in court and had 14 days to file a reply.
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Baldwin was first charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023, but the charge was dismissed three months later when his lawyers presented evidence the revolver Baldwin was using had been modified and it could fire without the trigger being pulled.
The 30 Rock actor has denied responsibility for Hutchins’ death, saying the gun went off without him pulling the trigger.
Ms Morrissey in January called a grand jury to indict Baldwin after an independent test of the gun found it would not fire without the trigger being pulled.
The test confirmed a previous FBI examination.
