‘Rust’ Prosecutors Respond To Alec Baldwin’s Claim Gun Was ‘Not Working Properly’
By Kristin Myers on May 21, 2024 at 5:55 PM EDT
Actor Alec Baldwin is facing criminal charges in connection with the death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
On October 21, 2021, the "30 Rock" actor was rehearsing a scene for the Western film when a gun that he was rehearsing with went off. Baldwin has maintained that he never pulled the trigger.
First assistant director David Halls accepted a plea deal and was given probation. It took a jury less than three hours to find that armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was guilty of involuntary manslaughter. A judge sentenced her to the state maximum of 18 months behind bars.
'Rust' Prosecutors Insist The Gun Was Working Properly Prior To FBI Testing
While a judge contemplates whether or not to dismiss the charges against Alec Baldwin, “Rust” prosecutors argued in a new filing on Tuesday, May 21, that the gun was in working order prior to the FBI test in August 2022 that concluded that the trigger had to be pulled in order for the gun to fire.
According to documents obtained by The Blast, prosecutors wrote, “The notion that defendant's gun had been modified and not working properly prior to its seizure by law enforcement was not only refuted by firearms and tool mark forensic experts but also by the defendant.”
They went on to say that Baldwin’s legal team is trying to seize “on the fracture to the trigger sear and the reduction of the full-cock hammer notch caused by the accidental discharge test conducted by the FBI, to argue that he has been deprived of exculpatory evidence, thus resulting in a violation of his right to due process.”
Prosecutors Claim Baldwin’s Legal Team Can’t Find An Expert To Testify On Gun Modifications
They also claimed that their “fantastical argument that the state of New Mexico acted in bad faith because it is on a myopic quest to prosecute a celebrity and that is why law enforcement damaged the gun, thereby depriving him of exculpatory evidence is simply fictional.”
They went on to assert that Baldwin’s legal team “could not find a credible expert who would support
his theory that the revolver's parts had been altered or modified prior to October 21, 2021.”
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who presided over Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s case as well, will be making a decision this week as to whether or not the case will proceed to trial.
Alec Baldwin Announces That He Has Been Sober For Decades
As part of his release, Alec Baldwin is not allowed to consume alcohol or drugs. However, some may not be aware that the "Supercell" actor has been sober for decades, despite admitting to drug use in the past.
On May 1, the 66-year-old actor appeared on the May 1 episode of the Our Way with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson podcast to talk about his sobriety. When asked about whether or not he drinks alcohol, Baldwin said, “I don't discuss this a lot,” adding, “I discuss it every now and then when it makes sense. I'm 39 years sober. I got sober Feb. 23, 1985.”
Baldwin Says His Drug Use Started After Moving To L.A.
Baldwin explained that his drug use started after he moved from his native New York City to Los Angeles in 1983. “I had a white-hot problem every day for two years. I think I snorted a line of cocaine from here to Saturn," he confessed. He said that, at the time, he and his Hollywood friends “did one on the rings of Saturn, then we came home — we took it back home. I mean, cocaine was like coffee back then. Everybody was doing it all day long.”
He went on to explain, “Because I stopped doing drugs, my drinking increased, which they tell you is going to happen. And that did happen. I just started drinking.”
Alec Baldwin Admits That He Does 'Miss Drinking'
In his 2017 memoir "Nevertheless," the "Beetlejuice" actor opened up on his journey to sobriety. In order to promote the book, Baldwin did a Good Morning America interview with anchor George Stephanopoulos at the time, stating, “I’m glad I got [sober] when I did ’cause not many people get sober when they’re young."
He went on to explain that, in his 20s, when he was "overdosing on drugs," he did it because "there was really, really a lot of pain there."
Baldwin Admits That He Tries To Meditate
After quitting drugs, Baldwin went on to explain that he also stopped drinking. “I don't miss drugs at all, but I do miss drinking. I like to drink,” he told Anka during the May 2024 interview.
This prompted Bronson to ask, "Because you don't drink and because you don't do drugs, what do you do? Do you meditate?”
Baldwin admitted "I do try to meditate" but admitted it was difficult to do so at home, given that he raises seven children with his wife, Hilaria Baldwin. “Meditating with seven children is like trying to play ping pong on the deck of an aircraft carrier," he joked. "It's a real pain in the a--, man.”
