In a ruling filed Friday, a judge decided not to dismiss Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter charge.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer rejected the “30 Rock” actor’s new attempt to avoid charges that could have resulted in up to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin was charged with manslaughter in connection to the death of Halina Hutchins, a cinematographer who died on October 21, 2021, after a gun Baldwin was holding discharged on the set of “Lust.”
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Unreleased footage from Lust, used in the trial, shows Alec Baldwin sitting in the church where Halina Hutchins was murdered. (Courtesy of New Mexico State Court)
Halina Hutchins passed away in October 2021 while filming Lust. (Panisch Sia Boyle Ravipudi Law Firm)
During the two-day hearing, Sommer heard arguments from Baldwin’s defense that the charges against him should be dropped because of the destruction of evidence.
The replica Pietta .45 Colt pistol used in the shooting was destroyed during testing conducted by the FBI at the request of the prosecution. Court documents say the “intentional” destruction of the gun by the prosecution precludes a fair trial for Baldwin.
“Simply put, there is no way to overturn what the government did,” Baldwin’s lawyers wrote in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. “While Baldwin’s attorneys can do everything in their power to convince the jury that the shear and hammer notch defects and tampering, including the virtually non-existent full cocking notch, existed prior to the FBI inspection, Baldwin forever lost the opportunity to investigate that fact beyond question, because the government failed to even take the basic step of documenting the condition of the gun’s internal components before destroying it.”
“And Baldwin’s defense attorneys will never be able to test the gun in its original condition to determine whether it would fire if the hammer was pulled.”
Alec Baldwin made a gun with his fingers while speaking with investigators after the 2021 “Lust” mass shooting. (Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office)
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Alec Baldwin will head to court in July for his manslaughter trial stemming from the shooting death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins on the set of the 2021 film “Lust.” (Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department)
The Emmy Award-winning actor filed a fifth motion to have the manslaughter charge dismissed while his defense completes arguments at hearings on June 21 and 24.
In a motion for expedited relief, the defense sought an order dismissing the indictment, arguing that the state breached its discovery obligations by failing to promptly disclose “material evidence” that would be considered favorable to Baldwin’s defense and “fundamentally alter how Baldwin prepares for trial.”
“The State’s tactic of ambush trial is grossly unfair and anathema to the Court,” the document states. “The reason is clear: Baldwin has had to devote significant time and resources simply to tracking the laundry list of unreleased evidence that continues to emerge from hiding places, not to mention the time it will take to review the more than 150,000 pages of documents and countless hours of audio recordings and videotapes that were forced upon Baldwin just weeks before trial.”
His lawyers continued, “Baldwin deserves to be treated like any other criminal defendant. Both federal and state law point in the same direction: no charges will be filed.”
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Alec Baldwin and crew finished filming on Lust in May 2023. (Reuters)
Baldwin had previously tried to have the charges dismissed, but all attempts were denied. Judge Sommer ruled that the prosecution’s grand jury findings were not prejudicial to Baldwin.
The judge also rejected the defense’s argument that the prosecution had failed to prove that the 66-year-old actor committed a crime. The defense said it was “incomprehensible” that the prosecution had admitted to “the possibility of live ammunition” on the “Lust” set. The suit further stated that it was the gun handler’s responsibility to ensure that the gun was not loaded with live ammunition.
“Without any knowledge that the gun may have contained live ammunition, Baldwin had no reason to believe that his operation of the gun would result in death, much less that his actions posed a substantial danger to Hutchins.”
But the judge sided with the state.
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The “Last” arms maker was convicted of manslaughter in March. (Luis Sanchez Saturno – Pool/Getty Images)
Hannah Gutierrez Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison. (Courtesy of New Mexico State Court)
During a June 21 hearing, Judge Sommer also ruled that the state cannot compel “The Last” arms manufacturer Hannah Gutierrez Reed to testify at Baldwin’s upcoming trial, but testimony from Gutierrez Reed’s own roughly two-week trial will likely be used in the prosecution’s case against the actor.
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Gutierrez Reed was convicted of manslaughter in March after a jury determined that the gun that fired live ammunition and killed Hutchins on the set of a Western movie could have been made by a gun manufacturer from “Lust.” Reed faces a maximum sentence of 18 years in prison and is currently appealing the sentence.
Gutierrez Reed was also acquitted. Tampering with evidenceShe faced the charges in 2023 after investigators accused her of forging bags of cocaine on the day of the fatal shooting.
