(DailyDig.com) – The trial for Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charge in the death of the cinematographer of the movie “Rust,” Halyna Hutchins, will proceed in a New Mexico court some time in July.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer released an order spanning 18 pages on June 28, stating that the defendant failed to show that the state did not act in bad faith when they destroyed some of the gun’s components when they tested it for possible accidental firing.
Baldwin’s defense team claimed that the state’s destruction of the firearm during testing deprived them of a crucial piece of evidence. The defense team of Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas argued in the filing they issued earlier in June that the state knowingly destroyed the gun to deprive them of possible evidence of their client’s innocence.
Hutchins was killed during the “Rust” movie rehearsal when a live round from the firearm Baldwin was pointing at her struck her. Joel Souza, the movie’s director, also sustained injuries. Baldwin admitted to handling the gun, but he stated many times that he never pulled the gun’s trigger.
The FBI and other independent examination of the Colt .45 challenged Baldwin’s statement, but Baldwin’s possible proof is not available after the damage done to the evidence.
Along with a defense lawyer from New Mexico, Heath Leblanc, the attorneys from New York, Spiro and Nikas, unsuccessfully argued about the damaged evidence with Special Prosecutors Erlinda Johnson and Kari Morrissey during a hearing with the judge on June 21 and 24.
The decision on June 28 by Judge Sommer was not unexpected, as she repeatedly refused to dismiss the attempt by the defense to cover the same topic. On June 24, she cautioned that they should continue their preparations for the trial after the ruling she would make on June 28.
The expected date for the first day of the trial will be July 9, and the prosecution has already given the court their witness list. The trial, State vs. Alexander Rae Baldwin, should last around two weeks, with Baldwin in attendance.
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