‘Rust’ star Alec Baldwin’s battle to dismiss criminal charges gets ugly in court, ruling expected next week
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Alec Baldwin will have to wait until next week to find out if the involuntary manslaughter charges against him will be dismissed.
The actor's legal team appeared at a virtual hearing Friday to argue against criminal charges for Baldwin in connection with the fatal "Rust" movie set shooting that left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead and wounded director Joel Souza.
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. He was not required to show up for the hearing Friday.
Things got ugly between Baldwin's lawyers, Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas, and prosecutor Kari Morrissey as they argued in front of Judge Mary Marlow Sommer. At the end of the hearing, the judge said she would submit her ruling next week.
One topic that got particularly heated was whether the prosecution had actually contacted the witnesses they planned to put in front of the grand jury. Spiro noted that they had served a discovery request asking for "any communications with any witnesses" showing they were expected at 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," he said. "This isn’t how you’re supposed to do it period."
He claimed the witnesses had "never seen an alert letter" pointing to the camera as he told Morrissey, "You have the obligation."
As he continued his argument, Morissey spoke over him, asking, "What am I doing here? Why is this guy…" The judge quickly stepped in, "Stop. Ms. Morissey, please don’t interrupt him… let him finish."
Spiro ended his argument saying, "This is a homicide case. Prosecutors are required to do better than this. Indictments should be dismissed."
When it was Morissey's turn to speak, she told the judge, "Everything that he's saying to you right now is a complete misrepresentation about what has happened."
"Mr. Spiro wants to say to this court this morning that I'm just kind of making this up as I go along. That I had no intention of ever presenting anyone over video," referring to the state's witnesses. Morissey added that she could give the names of the DAs that she spoke to prior to the grand jury, saying, "I'm not going to sit here and be called a liar."
The prosecutor ended her argument with, "Mr. Spiro is intentionally trying to misrepresent and mislead this court right now."
Hutchins died Oct. 21, 2021 after Baldwin aimed the gun at her during a scene rehearsal. It was not supposed to be loaded with a live round – but it was.
Jurors found Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the movie set armorer who was in charge of firearms safety, guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She received a sentence of 18 months in prison in April.
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. And they say the FBI broke the gun during forensic testing.
"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."
Since then, Baldwin has filed two additional motions to dismiss.
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Prosecutors called out Baldwin's legal team for lying and manipulation in their reply to the actor's motion to dismiss.
WATCH: ALEC BALDWIN DODGES QUESTIONS ABOUT INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER TRIAL
"The defendant's motion to dismiss is predictably false, misleading, and histrionic misrepresentation of the facts and circumstances of the history of the case," the prosecution's filing said. "The two special prosecutors who have been assigned the prosecution of Mr. Baldwin have experienced near countless lies and manipulation from the defense for more than one year. In addition, we have, and certainly will continue to be, the subject of the defendant's contrived and unwarranted personal attacks."
WATCH: ALEC BALDWIN'S FIRST WORDS TO DETECTIVES REVEALED AS COPS RELEASE TROVE OF 'RUST' FILES
The 316-page motion mirrored Baldwin's lengthy request to dismiss and focused on giving a "factual and procedural history" of the case.
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Baldwin had "no control" over his emotions and was "frequently screaming and cursing" on the Bonanza Creek set, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. The actor was also accused of being "inattentive" during firearms training.
"To watch Mr Baldwin’s conduct on the set of ‘Rust’ is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct affects those around him," special prosecutors wrote in the April 5 filing. "Witnesses have testified that it was this exact conduct that contributed to safety compromises on set."
Baldwin will head to court in July for his trial.
Jury selection will begin July 9, according to New Mexico Courts.
The trial is expected to last until July 19.
Original article source: ‘Rust’ star Alec Baldwin’s battle to dismiss criminal charges gets ugly in court, ruling expected next week
