Alec Baldwin Files To Dismiss 'Rust' Charges Amid 'Rigged' Jury Concerns

Actor Alec Baldwin is trying to get the "Rust" charges against him dismissed.

The 65-year-old actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had her criminal trial earlier this month. It only took three hours for a jury to find her guilty. Her sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 15.

Only a few months before actor Alec Baldwin is scheduled to stand trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, his lawyers asked a judge on Thursday to throw out his case. Baldwin's legal team accused prosecutors of  “violating nearly every rule in the book” in the process of obtaining an indictment. They claim that prosecutors not only leaked information to the press but also failed to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.

In addition, the prosecutors are also accused of giving a faulty jury instruction on involuntary manslaughter that "stacked the deck" against the "30 Rock" actor. “Enough is enough,” the lawyers wrote in Thursday's court filing. “This is an abuse of the system and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme.”

In January 2023, actor Alec Baldwin and "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were both charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of Halyna Hutchins. In April 2023, the charges against Baldwin were dropped without prejudice pending further investigation into the incident.

However, after an FBI forensics support concluded that Baldwin had to have pulled the trigger in order for the gun to go off, charges were refiled against him in January 2024. On January 31, Baldwin entered a plea of not guilty. His trial has been scheduled for July 9.

In the motion filed on Thursday afternoon, Baldwin's legal team alleges that the prosecution failed to make witnesses available to the grand jury who have testified that it was not the actor's duty to inspect the firearm before filming the scene, as per Variety. They are accusing special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, who has taken the lead in this case, of failing to adequately inform grand jurors that they could hear from the defense witnesses if they wanted to.

In addition to hearing testimony from director Joel Souza, Baldwin's lawyers also want the grand jury to hear from first assistant director Dave Halls, producer Ryan Smith, and other witnesses who they believe would support Baldwin's position. According to the motion, Baldwin's legal team accused Morrisey of relying heavily on the state's expert witness, Bryan Carpenter, who insisted that an actor was responsible for the safe handling of firearms despite a SAG-AFTRA statement saying otherwise.

In Thursday's filing, Alec Baldwin's legal team accused Morrissey of engaging in “vindictive and malicious” conduct “from start to finish,” writing that “The State had one goal — indict Baldwin, no matter the truth, no matter the rules or the Court rulings, and no matter what it took to do so."

They went on to claim that Morrissey was quoted as an unnamed "source familiar with the case" by NBC News, in which she allegedly stated that this would provide a "teachable moment" and "humble" Baldwin.

The lengthy legal filing also went on to detail some of the factual and legal arguments that Baldwin's lawyers will likely raise during the trial, in the event that the motion to dismiss the filing is denied.

Alec Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger in several interviews given following the death of Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021. His legal team is expected to argue that the gun had been modified to fire without the trigger being pulled. They will also most likely point to the condition of the gun, which was broken during FBI testing.

Baldwin's lawyers have also been struggling to define the term "involuntary manslaughter" ahead of the trial. They have been trying to add an instruction forcing prosecutors to prove that Baldwin had “subjective knowledge of an actual risk that the firearm placed in his hand had been loaded with live ammunition.”

However, the standard jury instruction only states that Baldwin "should have known" the risk of his actions and acted with a "willful disregard for the safety of others."