A key listening to within the “Rust” manslaughter case has been postponed till August, as New Mexico prosecutors say they want extra time to finish a fuller investigation.
Prosecutors introduced on Thursday that they’d drop expenses in opposition to Alec Baldwin, after new proof got here to mild. But the state continues to be pursuing involuntary manslaughter expenses in opposition to Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer who loaded Baldwin’s gun.
Baldwin was getting ready for a scene at a movie ranch close to Santa Fe in 2021 when his gun fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The gun was purported to be loaded solely with inert “dummy” rounds, however as an alternative included a reside bullet that bore related model markings.
The case was first scheduled to go to a preliminary listening to on May 3. But the 2 particular prosecutors, who have been appointed three weeks in the past, now say they may want time to subpoena witnesses and do extra investigation earlier than they’re prepared for the listening to.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer agreed on Friday to reschedule the listening to for Aug. 9.
Jason Bowles, Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer, supported the delay. In a press release on Thursday, Bowles and co-counsel Todd Bullion praised the brand new prosecutors for his or her “diligent and thorough strategy” to taking a brand new take a look at the proof.
“The fact about what occurred will come out and the questions that we now have lengthy sought solutions for can be answered,” they mentioned within the assertion. “We absolutely anticipate on the finish of this course of that Hannah may even be exonerated.”
Gutierrez Reed’s attorneys have centered on Seth Kenney, the weapons provider who offered Baldwin’s Colt .45 and the dummy rounds to the set. They have sued Kenney beneath the New Mexico product legal responsibility legislation, alleging that he blended reside rounds right into a field of dummies. Kenney has denied wrongdoing.
Kenney was not charged by D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies, although he’s on the state’s witness record. Carmack-Altwies recused herself from the case final month, after the decide dominated she couldn’t proceed to work on it if she appointed a particular prosecutor.
The new prosecutors formally dismissed the fees in opposition to Baldwin on Friday. However, they’ve mentioned that Baldwin has not been absolved, and that expenses may very well be refiled afterward.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spent greater than a 12 months investigating the case earlier than expenses have been filed in January. That investigation included submitting the gun and reside rounds to the FBI for forensic evaluation.
That evaluation concluded that Baldwin’s gun was functioning usually on the time of the taking pictures. However, throughout FBI testing, the gun broke aside. A supply mentioned that Baldwin’s attorneys have been capable of present prosecutors that the gun had been modified previous to the taking pictures, making it harder for the D.A. to show that he negligently pulled the set off.
