Bad news for Alec Baldwin: His motion to dismiss involuntary manslaughter charges is denied

The judge in Alec Baldwin’s case denied the actor’s motion to dismiss the case for involuntary manslaughter during the filming of the movie “Rust.” The defense had focused on an alleged rule violation by prosecutors to divert the grand jury’s attention. However, the magistrate opposed his arguments, so the trial still stands.

As reported by Fox News, Baldwin’s lawyers had argued that “prosecutors violated the rules of grand jury procedures to divert attention from exculpatory evidence and witnesses,” an argument prosecutors found “shameless.”

“The way this is supposed to work is the grand jury’s in a week, there’s all these witnesses that could come, you hit them with a subpoena, they come to the grand jury, or you have them on stand by, and you talk to them. This isn’t how you’re supposed to do it, period,” attorney Alex Spiro asserted during the May 17 hearing.

On the other hand, prosecutor Kari Morrissey said that Spiro's statement was a “complete misrepresentation” of what happened.

“Mr. Spiro wants to say to this court this morning that I’m just kind of making this up as I go along. That I had no intention of ever presenting anyone over video,” she replied, referring to the jury.

Following this court decision, the trial date remains firm on Wednesday, July 10.

The fatal incident involving Alec Baldwin

The actor was filming the movie Rust in October 2021, a film in which Travis Fimmel, Frances Fisher and Jensen Ackles were also working.

During one scene, Baldwin was pointing a gun at the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, when the weapon in question went off, ending the latter’s life. The incident also caused injuries to director Joel Souza.

According to the actor, he had been told that the gun was unloaded, and he also stated that he did not pull the trigger. Both he and the person responsible for setting up the recording set, Hannah Gutiérrez-Reed, were charged in January 2023 with involuntary manslaughter, although the cases were dropped in April 2023.

At the time, prosecutors in the case argued that “this decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal guilt, and charges may be refiled.”

However, in January 2024, Special Prosecutor Morrissey filed the new felony charges based on additional grand jury testimony from seven witnesses listed in the indictment.

“I feel like someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who it is, but I know it’s not me,” Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in December 2021.