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XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gg36dj60jo

A judge has denied a last-ditch effort by Alec Baldwin to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge against him over the fatal shooting of
Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the set of his film Rust.

The move comes two weeks before the actor is set to stand trial in New
Mexico for the 2021 shooting that left the cinematographer dead.

New Mexico District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer denied 66-year-old Mr Baldwin's bid to have the charge dismissed, saying it must be resolved at trial.

The proceedings are due to begin on 9 July with jury selection.
The Emmy award-winning actor was holding a prop gun that fired during a
scene rehearsal on set in Bonanza City, New Mexico, on 21 October 2021
killing Ms Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was sentenced to 18 months in
prison in April after being found guilty on the same involuntary
manslaughter charge faced by Mr Baldwin.

In a five-page order released Friday, the judge wrote that "whether the defendant [Baldwin] had a criminally negligent state of mind is a question
of fact for the jury to decide" in a trial.

Over the last two and a half years, Mr Baldwin has maintained he did not
pull the trigger and does not know how live ammunition ended up in the
prop gun on the set of the Western.

Mr BaldwinÆs lawyers argued that since the most critical evidence in the
case - the firearm - was destroyed the actor should be exonerated.

In 2022, an FBI examiner took a mallet to the weapon as part of an
accidental discharge test for their forensic analysis. The test broke
internal components of the gun, prohibiting it from staying in the fully
cocked position.

Josh Bash, an attorney for the actor, argued that this testing deprived
the defence of a full opportunity to examine the gun in its original
condition.

ôThis is among the most egregious constellation of facts IÆve ever seen,ö
Mr Bash said at a virtual hearing on Monday.

ôThey knew it would be destroyed, and they did nothing to preserve the
evidence for the defendant."

"It's outrageous and it requires dismissal," he added.

But prosecutors have said that Mr Baldwin's team still has plenty of
evidence for a defence, even without the weapon still intact, as all parts
of the gun are still available.

"A review of the evidence in this case leads one to conclude that the exculpatory value of this firearm... is extremely low," special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson said in the hearing.

Ms Johnson went on to quote an interview that the actor did with
investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), saying: "Baldwin himself told OSHA investigators that the gun had
no mechanical defects."

The defence asked that if the judge declined to throw out the case, she
should at least not allow any of the technical gun analysis to be
presented at trial.

SheÆs previously denied other motions to dismiss his involuntary
manslaughter charge.

Mr Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, but had
the charges dropped after the local district attorneyÆs case fell apart.

Local prosecutors said they had gathered additional facts from forensic
tests on weapons, and Mr Baldwin was then recharged with a fresh count of involuntary manslaughter in January by a grand jury in New Mexico.

Along with the criminal case, Mr Baldwin is also facing several civil
lawsuits, including one brought by Ms HutchinsÆ family.

In a negligence legal action, they claim the cinematographer's death was
caused by reckless behaviour.

ôThe fact that live ammunition was allowed on a movie set, that guns and ammunition were left unattendedà and that defendant Baldwin inexplicably pointed and fired a gun at Halyna Hutchins, makes this a case where injury
or death was much more than just a possibility û it was a likely result,ö
the lawsuit reads.

In May, Mr Baldwin and his wife Hilaria announced that they and their
seven children would star in their own reality show next year.

Mr Baldwin has not been present in any pretrial hearings, but is scheduled
to be in court for the trial next month.


--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.

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