Judge postpones Alec Baldwin manslaughter trial to review motion to dismiss case | Entertainment & Arts Updates
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial has been put on hold due to a motion from his legal team seeking to dismiss the case based on hidden ammunition evidence.
During day three of Baldwin‘s trial, his lawyers argued that the Santa Fe sheriff’s office failed to disclose the existence of live rounds as evidence in the Rust investigation file to the defence.
“This was hidden from us,” said the actor’s lawyer Alex Spiro to a sheriff’s office crime scene technician during a hearing on the motion, with jurors not present in the courtroom.
Prosecutors contend that the ammunition was unrelated to the case and was not hidden.
Hilaria Baldwin is supporting her husband in court. Pic: Ramsay de Give/Pool Photo via AP
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer later called the jury in only to send them home for the day, so she can hear further evidence on the motion. They were instructed to return on Monday.
Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in relation to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed when a gun held by Baldwin discharged on the set of the Western film in New Mexico in October 2021. The 66-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
He maintains that he did not intentionally pull the trigger, claiming the gun went off accidentally and that he was not responsible for safety checks on the weapon.
The defence’s motion to dismiss follows their questioning of sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell on Thursday.
They allege that evidence regarding ammunition, delivered by a “good Samaritan” to the crime scene technician, was concealed by the state during the trial of Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this year for her involvement in the shooting.
Baldwin’s legal team suggests that the ammunition, provided by Rust prop supplier Seth Kenney, could be connected to Ms Hutchins’ death. The good Samaritan is former Arizona police officer Troy Teske, a friend of Gutierrez’s father and Hollywood armourer Thell Reed.
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During Gutierrez’s trial, her defense argued that a box of dummy rounds she was handling on the day of the shooting came from Mr. Kenney, but prosecutors refuted those claims.
The state asserts that the rounds brought in by Mr. Teske do not match the live rounds found on set, as they differ in size and chemical composition. Prosecutor Kari Morrissey described the attempt as a “wild goose chase” by someone trying to protect a friend’s daughter.
She stated that the ammunition had no evidentiary value, but Baldwin’s defense team insists that it should have been disclosed.
The timeline for the judge’s ruling on the defense’s motion is uncertain, though NBC News, Sky’s US partner, reports that it could come later today.
