The jury in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Alec Baldwin has been sent home on the third day after the defence filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Baldwin’s defence team told Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer that prosecutors hid evidence relating to ammunition that may be relevant in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set in New Mexico on October 21, 2021.
The 66-year-old actor’s defence team has argued their client did nothing wrong on the fateful day when a Colt .45 prop gun went off in his hand, hitting Hutchins, who died later that day.
Baldwin’s lead defence attorney Alex Spiro has said Baldwin believed he was handling a harmless prop after it was given to him by the production’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director and head of safety Dave Halls called “cold gun”, indicating it was safe to use on set.
The defence has also cited irregularities in how police handled evidence and secured the scene.
Prosecutors have argued Baldwin should have performed a safety check before rehearsing with the prop gun. They have also managed to ensure much of a recording of a phone call by Baldwin made to his wife shortly after the tragic incident will remain admissible as evidence.
In the call the actor asked his wife to keep vacation plans. The defence was concerned the recording would make Baldwin seem heartless, while prosecutors argued it showed his state of mind.
Next week could see jailed Rust armourer Gutierrez-Reed, who is serving an 18-month sentence in connection with Hutchins’ death, give testimony.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to two charges of involuntary manslaughter and if found guilty faces up to 18 months in prison.
The jury will reconvene in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Monday.
The unusual move by the rarely flustered Judge Sommer comes just over 12 hours after Baldwin’s attorneys at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan filed another motion to dismiss the case against the 30 Rock Emmy winner. Unlike previous such motions over the years, which obviously have been unsuccessful, this eleventh-hour filing has thrown a serious spanner into the prosecution’s usually buttoned-up works with accusations of a cover-up or intentional incompetence.
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