SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge is scheduled to rule Friday on a request to dismiss the only charge against Alec Baldwin in the shooting death of a cinematographer over concerns that the FBI damaged the firearm in a forensic test before it was examined by his lawyers.
Alec Baldwin’s lawyers have asked Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to dismiss the case against Baldwin ahead of a high-profile trial set to begin in July.
Baldwin’s lawyers are asking that if the trial goes ahead, the judge should at least bar the prosecution from presenting results from a firearms expert’s analysis of the gun with the spare parts, which they say could have destroyed potentially exculpatory evidence while investigators were testing it to see if it would accidentally fire without the trigger being pulled.
During a rehearsal on the film’s set on Oct. 21, 2021, Baldwin was shown holding a gun. Halina Hutchins The bomb exploded, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza, but Souza survived.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.
Sheriff’s investigators initially sent the revolver to the FBI for a routine examination, but after an FBI analyst heard Baldwin say in an ABC interview that he had never pulled the trigger, the FBI told local authorities they could run a misfire test on the gun, though this could potentially damage it.
The FBI was instructed to proceed with the investigation and tested the revolver by hitting it at various angles with a rawhide mallet, destroying the firing mechanism and safety of the gun.
“They knew this was potentially exculpatory evidence and yet they threw it out anyway,” Baldwin’s attorney, John Bash, said during an online court hearing Monday. “This is outrageous and should be dismissed.”
Prosecutors said it was “unfortunate” the gun was broken, but that it was not destroyed and parts are still available. Prosecutors said Baldwin’s defense team still has the authority to defend their client and question the evidence against him.
Baldwin’s lawyers say authorities proceeded with destructive testing without disassembling the gun and photographing its parts, resulting in the loss of the most important evidence in the case. They pointed out that the top notch of the revolver’s hammer was damaged, and asked the judge to bar the jury from seeing an analysis of the reconstructed gun.
The hours of gun testimony and forensic testing during the online hearing served as a rehearsal for Baldwin’s trial, with his defense team engaging in lengthy and thorough cross-examination of the lead detective, an FBI forensic firearms investigator and the prosecution’s independent firearms expert, Lucien Haag.
Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson told the court Monday that the defense has ample evidence related to the gun that can be used at trial.
She added that all available evidence, from witness statements to video footage of Baldwin firing the revolver, indicated the gun was in working order on the day of the shooting and police had no reason to believe the gun’s internal mechanisms were exculpatory evidence.
The prosecution plans to present evidence to show that the gun “could not have been fired without the trigger being pulled” and that it was in working order before the shot was fired.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed He was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting in March. Sentenced to one and a half years in prison.
Since the 2021 shooting, filming on “Lust” has resumed, but in an agreement with Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, filming has been moved to Montana, with Hutchins serving as executive producer. The finished film has not yet been released to the public.
