(NewsWorthy.news) – Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin, who has been slapped with serious legal battles since the accidental death of a cinematographer, has had his appeal to drop charges against him denied.
New Mexico Judge Mary Sommer rejected the appeal on Friday June 28, leaving the “Rust” actor to await trial later this month. He had sought a dismissal of an involuntary manslaughter charge that was brought against him after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on the set of “Rust” in 2021.
Baldwin’s legal team had appealed the charge by arguing that the gun involved in the tragic incident had been damaged in forensic testing by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) before it could be examined by defense attorneys. Sommer, however, dismissed the accusation and instead held the lawyers accountable.
She said that the attorneys had not taken it upon themselves to prove that the gun was of “exculpatory value” prior to the piece of evidence having been “destroyed.” The judge added in her 18-page ruling that “significant” evidence points to the “unaltered firearm” not having “apparent exculpatory value.”
Additionally, Sommer noted, Baldwin’s legal team had not effectively shown that New Mexico “acted in bad faith” upon eliminating “certain internal components” of the gun during “accidental discharge testing.” Because the evidence failed to prove that the State and its law enforcement agents intentionally destroyed evidence that could have “exonerated the defendant” while they were testing it.
Baldwin was indicted in January 2024 on a felony count of involuntary manslaughter. The incident—which took place on October 21, 2021—turned deadly when the actor pointed a gun towards the camera that Hutchins was operating. Despite assurances from the crew that the revolver was not carrying live rounds, the gun went off, killing the cinematographer and injuring the film’s director.
Baldwin was indicted after a grand jury determined he caused the death unintentionally through “total disregard or indifference” to safety. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the movie set, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March for her negligence in allowing a live bullet to be put into the gun.
She was sentenced to 18 months in jail, the maximum sentence for the felony, which is the same punishment faced by Baldwin.
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