Alec Baldwin’s lawyers asked the judge to throw out his rust manslaughter case, accusing New Mexico prosecutors of “breaking almost every rule in the book” in seeking to indict the actor.
Baldwin, 65, was indicted by a New Mexico grand jury in January 2024 for involuntary manslaughter (negligent use of a firearm) or, alternatively, involuntary manslaughter (without due care or caution) in the death rust cameraman Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021 Baldwin allegedly pointed the gun at Hutchins, unaware that it was loaded with a live round when he fired. Director Joel Souza was also injured.
The actor pleaded not guilty on January 31, and his trial is scheduled to begin in July.
Gunfighter Hannah Gutierrez Reed was found guilty of manslaughter earlier this month. She was acquitted of another charge of tampering with evidence.
Alec Baldwin. John Lamparski/Getty Halyne Hutchins’ parents and sister ‘pleased’ rust The gunman was convicted after the death of the cameraman
In Thursday’s motion to dismiss, Baldwin’s lawyers accused prosecutors of leaking information to the press, claiming they were unaware of prosecutors’ criminal case against Baldwin that began in January 2023 until The Wall Street Journal contacted them.
They also accused special prosecutor Kari Morrissey of speaking to reporters the same day she told Baldwin of her plans to take the case to a grand jury in October, six months after previous special prosecutors dropped the original charges against Baldwin. This was “yet another disclosure that violated basic rules governing grand jury secrecy,” his lawyers argued.
His attorneys also accused prosecutors of failing to present exculpatory evidence to a grand jury and argued that the state violated the “Ex Post Facto Clauses of the United States and New Mexico Constitutions” when they charged Baldwin with a “firearm enhancement that was not enacted when an accident happened.” (The firearms upgrade fee was dropped in February 2023.)
Family attorney Halyne Hutchins says SAG-AFTRA’s defense of Alec Baldwin ‘defies common sense’
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Prosecutors did not make available to the grand jury witnesses who could have testified that it was not Baldwin’s responsibility to check the gun before the shooting, according to his lawyers. Baldwin wanted Souza and other witnesses they believed could help Baldwin to testify, stating that “every favorable fact was withheld, and all grand jury inquiries about exculpatory information were directed to witnesses who misrepresented the facts or had no basis for giving answers.”
“Enough is enough,” Baldwin’s lawyers argued. “This is an abuse of the system, and an innocent person whose rights have been violated to the limit. The court should dismiss the indictment.”
Later in the document, Baldwin’s lawyers claim that prosecutors had “one goal,” “to charge Baldwin, regardless of the truth, regardless of the rules or court decisions, and regardless of what it took.”
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Source: HIS Education