Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Judge Rules Alec Baldwin's Role as Co-Producer Not Relevant to Trial Over Fatal Set Shooting
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 7 months ago on
July 8, 2024

In a recent ruling, a New Mexico judge deemed Alec Baldwin's co-producer role irrelevant to his upcoming involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the "Rust" set. (AP/Court TV)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A New Mexico judge decided Monday that actor Alec Baldwin ‘s role as co-producer isn’t relevant to the involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the Western film “Rust.”

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that evidence won’t be allowed at trial about Baldwin’s secondary role on the movie, siding with defense attorneys.

“I’m having real difficulty with the state’s position that they want to show that as a producer he didn’t follow guidelines and therefore as an actor Mr. Baldwin did all of these things wrong that resulted in the death of Ms. Hutchins because as a producer he allowed these things to happen,” Marlowe Sommer said. “I’m denying evidence of his status as a producer.”

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson argued unsuccessfully to allow evidence that Baldwin’s “role as a producer made him keenly aware of his responsibilities on set” for safety.

“It goes to Mr. Baldwin’s knowledge, knowing that his conduct on set was negligent,” she said.

Baldwin’s Court Appearance

In the courtroom Monday, Baldwin sat between lead attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro. He appeared to listen intently, taking occasional notes on a yellow legal pad and handing written messages to an attorney. Baldwin wore glasses and close-cropped hair.

The trial starts July 9 with jury selection and is scheduled to last 10 days.

Last week, the judge cleared the way for crucial firearms experts for the prosecution to testify about Baldwin’s handling of the revolver and whether the gun was functioning properly prior to the fatal shooting.

On Monday, the judge sided with prosecutors to exclude at trial the summary findings from a state workplace safety investigation that places much of the blame on assistant director Dave Halls. Halls has pleaded no contest to negligent use of a firearm and may be called to testify at Baldwin’s trial.

Prosecutors say the workplace safety investigation was incomplete, unreliable and glossed over Baldwin’s responsibilities in the fatal shooting.

Rust Movie Productions paid a $100,000 fine to resolve violations of state safety regulations that were characterized as “serious” but not willful, under a 2023 settlement agreement. Several witnesses to the workplace safety investigation are likely to be called to testify at Baldwin’s trial.

Prosecutors also will be able to present at trial graphic images of Hutchins’ injuries from an autopsy report, over objections from the defense, as well as police lapel camera video of the immediate aftermath of the shooting as medics arrived on set to treat the wounded Hutchins and Souza.

Baldwin is charged with a single felony count of involuntary manslaughter punishable by up to 18 months in prison if he’s convicted.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on set, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death and sentenced to 18 months in prison. She is appealing the conviction.

In October 2021, Baldwin was rehearsing a cross-draw maneuver with the revolver when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has pleaded not guilty and claims the gun fired accidentally after he followed instructions to point it toward Hutchins, who was behind the camera. Unaware the gun contained a live round, Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer — not the trigger — and it fired.

Baldwin’s attorneys successfully sought to bar discussion at trial of fatal gun incidents on movie sets, including actor Brandon Lee’s death from a shot to the abdomen while filming a scene from “The Crow” in 1993. In that instance, a makeshift bullet was mistakenly left in a gun from a previous scene and struck Lee while filming a scene that called for using blank rounds.

Prosecutors have agreed not to elicit testimony about “The Crow,” but also contend that Baldwin knew about safety risks posed by guns — even when live rounds are not present.

Marlowe Sommer said she’ll allow just a single reference at trial to the fact that blank rounds without a projectile can be fatal. Attorneys for Baldwin argue that it was inconceivable that live rounds would wind up on set.

Prosecutors want to exclude a letter signed by crew members that disputes the characterizations of the “Rust” set as chaotic or dangerous prior to the fatal shooting.

Another pretrial motion might defuse snipping between the prosecution and defense teams. Prosecutors want the judge to preclude accusations of “prosecutorial misconduct” and “personal attacks.”

Marlowe Sommer said discussion at trial of prosecutorial misconduct will be limited to testimony analysis of the gun in the fatal shooting and FBI forensic testing that damaged the firing mechanism. Defense attorneys argue that may have destroyed possible exculpatory evidence.

The judge ruled evidence and arguments designed to garner sympathy for Baldwin won’t be allowed at trial, including indications of remorse or the impact of events on his family. Prosecutors say those arguments have no bearing on determining guilt.

Baldwin is a three-time Emmy winner who has gone from star and leading man to bit player to scene stealer, at times going years without a major role in a hit film or show. But he’s remained a household name for nearly 35 years, largely on the strength of his real-life personality: as an outspoken liberal, talk-show guest and the king of all “Saturday Night Live” hosts.

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins Is Keynote Speaker for Fresno Clovis Prayer Breakfast

DON'T MISS

Kiké Hernández and World Series Champion Dodgers Finalize a $6.5 Million, 1-Year Contract

DON'T MISS

California Man Calls 375 Hoax Threats in Swatting Spree Will Face Prison Time

DON'T MISS

White House Fires USAID Inspector General After Warning About Funding Oversight

DON'T MISS

Red, White, and Blueland? GOP Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename Greenland

DON'T MISS

White House Bars AP Reporter From Oval Office Because of AP Style Policy on ‘Gulf of America’

DON'T MISS

Trump Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Likely to Drive up Car Costs, Industry Leaders Say

DON'T MISS

After Criminal Case Tossed, Madec Fights to Get Fresno CC Classroom Job Back

DON'T MISS

Atmospheric River Stays on Track to Soak Fresno With Rain

DON'T MISS

Blood Center Picks Long-Time Industry Leader as New CEO

UP NEXT

California Man Calls 375 Hoax Threats in Swatting Spree Will Face Prison Time

UP NEXT

White House Fires USAID Inspector General After Warning About Funding Oversight

UP NEXT

Red, White, and Blueland? GOP Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename Greenland

UP NEXT

White House Bars AP Reporter From Oval Office Because of AP Style Policy on ‘Gulf of America’

UP NEXT

Trump Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Likely to Drive up Car Costs, Industry Leaders Say

UP NEXT

After Criminal Case Tossed, Madec Fights to Get Fresno CC Classroom Job Back

UP NEXT

Atmospheric River Stays on Track to Soak Fresno With Rain

UP NEXT

Blood Center Picks Long-Time Industry Leader as New CEO

UP NEXT

Californians Picked Up in Recent ICE Raids Include Kids and Volunteers

UP NEXT

Denmark Wants to Buy California? Online Petition Hits 200,000 Signatures

White House Fires USAID Inspector General After Warning About Funding Oversight

13 hours ago

Red, White, and Blueland? GOP Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename Greenland

14 hours ago

White House Bars AP Reporter From Oval Office Because of AP Style Policy on ‘Gulf of America’

14 hours ago

Trump Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Likely to Drive up Car Costs, Industry Leaders Say

14 hours ago

After Criminal Case Tossed, Madec Fights to Get Fresno CC Classroom Job Back

14 hours ago

Atmospheric River Stays on Track to Soak Fresno With Rain

15 hours ago

Blood Center Picks Long-Time Industry Leader as New CEO

16 hours ago

Californians Picked Up in Recent ICE Raids Include Kids and Volunteers

16 hours ago

Denmark Wants to Buy California? Online Petition Hits 200,000 Signatures

17 hours ago

Fresno Crash Kills Pedestrian. Driver Cooperates With Police.

18 hours ago

Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins Is Keynote Speaker for Fresno Clovis Prayer Breakfast

Dallas Jenkins, the creator and director of the television series “The Chosen,” is the keynote speaker at the Fresno Clovis Pray...

7 minutes ago

7 minutes ago

Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins Is Keynote Speaker for Fresno Clovis Prayer Breakfast

12 hours ago

Kiké Hernández and World Series Champion Dodgers Finalize a $6.5 Million, 1-Year Contract

Photo of an armored vehicle
12 hours ago

California Man Calls 375 Hoax Threats in Swatting Spree Will Face Prison Time

Flowers and a sign are placed outside the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)
13 hours ago

White House Fires USAID Inspector General After Warning About Funding Oversight

14 hours ago

Red, White, and Blueland? GOP Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename Greenland

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)
14 hours ago

White House Bars AP Reporter From Oval Office Because of AP Style Policy on ‘Gulf of America’

An employee works on the production line at the Martinrea auto parts manufacturing plant that supplies auto parts to Canada and U.S. plants, in Woodbridge, Ontario, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP File)
14 hours ago

Trump Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Likely to Drive up Car Costs, Industry Leaders Say

14 hours ago

After Criminal Case Tossed, Madec Fights to Get Fresno CC Classroom Job Back

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend