Alec Baldwin’s lawyers have requested that the manslaughter charge against the actor be dismissed due to the destruction of key evidence in the fatal shooting on the set of ‘Rust’: the Colt revolver .45.
New twist. Two weeks before his trial in New Mexico for accidentally killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 on the set of the film ” Rust ,” Alec Baldwin’s legal team argued that destroying the weapon by the FBI should allow the actor to be exonerated.
The defense claimed that during testing in 2022, an FBI examiner hit the weapon with a mallet, damaging internal components so that the hammer could no longer remain in the fully cocked position.
Thus, the tests would have deprived the defense of the opportunity to examine the weapon in its original condition, emphasizing that the examiner had not even disassembled the weapon before the destructive tests, nor photographed its internal components.
“This is one of the most egregious constellations of facts I have ever seen. They knew it would be destroyed and they did nothing to preserve the defendant’s evidence,” said John Bash, Alec Baldwin’s lawyer, who ruled that the weapon had been tampered with to facilitate the shot.
AN EIGHT-DAY TRIAL
Prosecutor Erlinda Johnson countered by saying that detectives did not clearly understand that the gun could be considered exonerating evidence at the time they ordered the tests, and that the defense could still support its case based on other evidence available.
At the end of the three-hour session, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer announced that she would deliver her verdict on Friday June 28, without giving details of her decision, but recommending that the parties prepare for the evolution of the affair. “Don’t think this means stopping working for a trial ,” she said.
The trial is expected to last eight days, with testimony beginning July 10 and ending July 19. Kari Morrissey, the lead prosecutor, raised the possibility of the trial lasting a week longer, due to the large number of witnesses expected, but Marlowe Sommer maintained the limitation at eight days.
