A judge in New Mexico, Mary Marlowe Sommer, has ruled that Alec Baldwin’s position as a co-producer is irrelevant to his imminent trial for involuntary manslaughter following a tragic shooting incident on the set of the movie Rust. It had been the State’s stance that his responsibilities as a producer led to him not adhering to certain guidelines, which ultimately resulted in the demise of Ms Hutchins. However, Judge Sommer disagreed, excluding any evidence related to his role as a producer. Special prosecutor, Erlinda Johnson, had advocated unsuccessfully that this evidence would point to Baldwin’s comprehension of his obligations towards on-set safety.
Within the courtroom, Baldwin was seen flanked by leading attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, while he intermittently perused documents before him. The be-spectacled actor, sporting a closely-cut hairstyle, is set to go on trial starting with jury selection on 9th July, a process estimated to span 10-days.
Last week saw Judge Sommer permit the participation of pivotal firearms experts who will testify concerning Baldwin’s handling of the revolver and ascertain if the weapon had been in proper working condition before the fatal episode. On Monday, she agreed with the prosecution’s request to dismiss summary findings of a state workplace safety investigation that pinned significant blame on assistant director Dave Halls during the trial.
Charged with involuntary manslaughter, Halls has entered a plea of no contest for negligent use of a firearm and might testify at Baldwin’s trial. If found guilty, Baldwin, facing a single felony count of involuntary manslaughter, could serve up to 18 months in prison.
The person responsible for firearms on the Rust set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter regarding the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and handed an 18-month prison sentence. She is currently in the process of appealing her conviction. The tragic incident took place in October 2021 when Baldwin was rehearsing a cross-draw action with a revolver that unexpectedly discharged, causing the death of Hutchins and injuring the director, Joel Souza.
Mr Baldwin has entered a not guilty plea, stating that the gun accidentally discharged as he followed directions to aim it in the direction of Hutchins, who was positioned behind the camera. Mr Baldwin was unaware that the weapon contained a live round and contends that he only pulled the hammer back, not the trigger, which caused the gun to fire. The prosecution indicates that the safety investigation, which found substantial infractions on the set, was lacklustre, unreliable and should not be allowed in the trial. Rust Movie Productions paid a hefty penalty of $100,000 to settle the breaches of state safety regulations marked as “severe” but unintentional, as per a settlement agreement in 2023. In Mr Baldwin’s trial, many witnesses from the inquiry into workplace safety are expected to testify. The prosecution will also be permitted to show disturbing images from Hutchins’ autopsy report, as well as footage from police body cameras showing the aftermath of the shooting, with paramedics attending to the injured Hutchins and Mr Souza. The defense for Mr Baldwin aim to exclude any mention of actor Brandon Lee’s death from the trial proceedings. Brandon Lee was fatally wounded in the abdomen during the filming of The Crow in 1993, when a makeshift bullet unknowingly left in a gun from a previous scene, resulted in an unintentional shooting during a scene requiring blank rounds. Although the prosecution has agreed not to introduce any testimony related to The Crow, they maintain that Mr Baldwin was fully aware of the dangers associated with firearms, even in the absence of live rounds. The defence team argues that the presence of live rounds on set was completely unforeseen. The prosecution seeks to dismiss a letter endorsed by crew members that challenges depictions of the Rust set as disorderly or unsafe before the unfortunate shooting. They contend that the investigation’s findings are effortlessly contradicted by more credible data. However, Mr Baldwin’s lawyers argue that the report should not be dismissed as evidence, with State Occupational Safety Officer Lorenzo Montoya deemed fit to testify in the trial. A possible pretrial motion might quieten the ongoing arguments between the prosecution and defence teams. The prosecution is calling for a restriction on allegations of “prosecutorial misconduct” and “personal attacks”. They are also urging the judge to leave out any evidence or arguments seeking to elicit sympathy for Mr Baldwin, including expressions of regret or the effect of the incident on his family, saying that it has no relevance to determining his guilt.