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Defense attorneys for Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Thursday to dismiss a grand jury indictment against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie \u201cRust.\u201d<\/p>\n
The indictment in January charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, at a movie ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe.<\/p>\n
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the charge. His attorneys in a new court filing accused prosecutors of \u201cunfairly stacking the deck” against Baldwin in grand jury proceedings that diverted attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.<\/p>\n
That prevented the jury from asserting their obligation to hear testimony from director Joel Souza, who was wounded in the shooting while standing near Hutchins, as well as assistant director and safety coordinator Dave Halls and props master Sarah Zachry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grand jury did not receive the favorable or exculpatory testimony and documents that the state had an obligation to present,\u201d said the court motion signed by defense attorney Luke Nikas. \u201cNor was the grand jury told it had a right to review and the obligation to request this information.\u201d<\/p>\n
The motion also asserts that the grand jury received inaccurate and one-sided testimony about the revolver involved in the fatal shooting.<\/p>\n
\u201cRust\u201d armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted by a jury last week in the shooting and is being held without bond pending an April sentencing hearing. Involuntary manslaughter carries a felony sentence of up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.<\/p>\n
Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and injuring Souza. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled back the gun\u2019s hammer, but not the trigger.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed at a two-week trial for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of \u201cRust\u201d where it was expressly prohibited. They also said she failed to follow basic gun-safety protocols.<\/p>\n
Halls last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm and completed a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation.<\/p>\n
Baldwin is scheduled for trial in July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails Defense attorneys for Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Thursday to dismiss a grand jury indictment against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n