'Rust' star Alec Baldwin filed 3 separate motions to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter charge ahead of his trial
Alec Baldwin dodges questions about involuntary manslaughter trial
Alec Baldwin gives no answer when asked if he's planning to testify in his "Rust" involuntary manslaughter trial. (Dario Alequin for Fox News Digital)
The judge in Alec Baldwin's "Rust" involuntary manslaughter case ruled to deny his motion to dismiss the indictment on Friday.
The judge rejected both of Baldwin's dismissal arguments regarding the grand jury process, concluding it wasn't prejudiced against him, court documents obtained by Fox News Digital showed.
The defense had argued that prosecutors flouted the rules of grand jury proceedings to divert attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses, which prosecutors have denied, calling him "shameless" and pointing out contradictory statements he made.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after being accidentally shot on the set of "Rust" in 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong | Photo by Fred Hayes/Getty Images for SAGindie)
Baldwin was indicted on two counts — involuntary manslaughter, negligent use of a firearm, or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter without due caution or circumspection — on Jan. 19. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died Oct. 21, 2021 after a gun Baldwin was holding discharged on the Western film set.
The actor skipped out on the May 17 hearing after waiving all of his pre-trial appearances.
His legal team appeared virtually, where they claimed the prosecution did not follow the rules during the grand jury process. Alex Spiro, the lead lawyer on Baldwin's team, specifically focused on accusations that the prosecution did not alert the witnesses ahead of the grand jury.
"The way this is supposed to work is the grand jury's in a week, there’s all these witnesses that could come, you hit them with a subpoena, they come to the grand jury, or you have them on stand by, and you talk to them," Spiro said during the May 17 hearing. "This isn’t how you’re supposed to do it period."
The witnesses "never" saw "an alert letter," according to the lawyer.
Alec Baldwin has filed three separate motions to dismiss the "Rust" case. (Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department)
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Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey slammed Spiro's argument as a "complete misrepresentation" of what actually went down.
"Mr. Spiro wants to say to this court this morning that I'm just kind of making this up as I go along," Morrissey said, referring to the state's witnesses. "That I had no intention of ever presenting anyone over video."
She also added: "I'm not going to sit here and be called a liar."
Alec Baldwin is shown sitting in the church on the Bonanza Creek movie set. (Courtesy: New Mexico Court)
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The "30 Rock" star's legal team argued the prosecution acted unethically and failed to present crucial evidence to a grand jury in their original motion to dismiss the indictment, obtained by Fox News Digital.
"Enough is enough," the court documents stated. "This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme."
Alec Baldwin and others finished filming "Rust" in May 2023. (Reuters)
Since then, Baldwin has filed two additional motions to dismiss. One to dismiss based on destruction of evidence — referring to the firearm — and one to dismiss over failure to allege a criminal act.
The state filed responses to both motions on May 21, but a court hearing has not been scheduled at this time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
