Alec Baldwin Files Motion To Dismiss Charges in ‘Rust’ Trial
Actor’s lawyers allege a set of bullets weren’t made available to the defense before the trial began
Attorneys for Alec Baldwin filed a motion to dismiss his ongoing manslaughter case tied to the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Baldwin’s lawyers told the court in a hearing Friday morning that the case should be thrown out because a set of bullets weren’t made available for the defense to review. How the bullets ended up in Baldwin’s prop weapon is a major question in the case. In Baldwin’s motion to dismiss filed Thursday night, first pulled by Variety, attorney Luke Nikas alleged the prosecution was trying to conceal evidence that would’ve been favorable to Baldwin’s defense.
“The state not only failed to disclose the evidence — it affirmatively hid it under a file number that is unaffiliated with the Rust case, and then failed to disclose the only documentation that it claims to have created that would have alerted Baldwin to the existence of the evidence,” Nikas wrote in the motion Thursday night.
The case finally began this week, nearly three years after Hutchins died on set in October of 2021 when Baldwin was rehearsing a scene with her and Rust’s director Joel Souza. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty and has said that he never pulled the trigger, further arguing that he wasn’t responsible for gun safety on set and had no reason to think his prop gun would’ve had live rounds. Rust’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March.
Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro argued in court that even if he did pull the trigger, that wouldn’t change his liability. “It was obviously a tragic accident, but Alec committed no homicide,” Spiro said. “Alec took the gun from those charged with its safety. He did not tamper with it. He did not load it himself.”
By Friday morning, the court began a hearing regarding the motion to dismiss, with Nikas further pushing for the dismissal. ““This is over and over and over again,” Nikas said, per Vareity. “This is not the first time. This is not the second time. It’s not the third time. It’s time for this case to be dismissed.”
The prosecution argued the bullets in question were not a match with the weapon, with prosecutor Kari Morrissey saying the argument has “no evidentiary value whatsoever,” Variety reported.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer hadn’t ruled on the motion as of Friday morning.
