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Alec Baldwin's lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the involuntary manslaughter charges against him over the 2021 Rust tragedy.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died and director Joel Souza was injured in October 2021 when Baldwin's prop gun fired on the set of Rust in New Mexico. He has always maintained that he did not pull the trigger.
Previous charges against the 65-year-old actor were dropped last year, however, he was indicted by a New Mexico grand jury in January 2024 after new firearms tests revealed that the trigger must have been pulled.
Baldwin's lawyers have now filed a motion to dismiss the charges, accusing prosecutors of leaking information to the press and "unfairly stacking the deck" against him.
"Enough is enough," they wrote. "This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme. The Court should dismiss the indictment."
The lawyers claimed that the prosecutors withheld "substantial exculpatory and favourable evidence" from the grand jury and didn't call upon witnesses who could have testified that it was not Baldwin's responsibility to check the gun before filming.
They argued that the prosecutors had "one goal" to "indict Baldwin, no matter the truth, no matter the rules or Court rulings, and no matter what it took to do so", according to People.
The 30 Rock star pleaded not guilty on 31 January. His trial is scheduled to begin in New Mexico on 10 July.
The motion to dismiss comes shortly after Rust's armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She is still awaiting sentencing.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died and director Joel Souza was injured in October 2021 when Baldwin's prop gun fired on the set of Rust in New Mexico. He has always maintained that he did not pull the trigger.
Previous charges against the 65-year-old actor were dropped last year, however, he was indicted by a New Mexico grand jury in January 2024 after new firearms tests revealed that the trigger must have been pulled.
Baldwin's lawyers have now filed a motion to dismiss the charges, accusing prosecutors of leaking information to the press and "unfairly stacking the deck" against him.
"Enough is enough," they wrote. "This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme. The Court should dismiss the indictment."
The lawyers claimed that the prosecutors withheld "substantial exculpatory and favourable evidence" from the grand jury and didn't call upon witnesses who could have testified that it was not Baldwin's responsibility to check the gun before filming.
They argued that the prosecutors had "one goal" to "indict Baldwin, no matter the truth, no matter the rules or Court rulings, and no matter what it took to do so", according to People.
The 30 Rock star pleaded not guilty on 31 January. His trial is scheduled to begin in New Mexico on 10 July.
The motion to dismiss comes shortly after Rust's armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She is still awaiting sentencing.