2024-07-12 19:30:13
A twist in the Alec Baldwin trial: the judge interrupted the hearing on Friday and sent the jurors home, because new bullets were discovered that the defense never had access to, a flaw that could call the procedure into question.
The 66-year-old actor is being prosecuted for manslaughter on the set of his western “Rust” in 2021. He faces up to 18 months in prison.
On the set of this film which was shot in New Mexico, the star brandished a weapon that was supposed to be just blank bullets but had actually fired a very real missile. The shooting killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Due to numerous weaknesses and twists and turns, the investigation never confirmed how live bullets, which are completely prohibited on set, ended up on the “Rust” set. Almost three years later, this issue is now involved in Mr. Baldwin’s trial, and could lead to his dismissal entirely.
Jurors are dismissed until Monday
His lawyers filed an appeal in this regard on Thursday evening, accusing the police of having “buried” evidence to explain the tragedy. Because at the beginning of the year, two and a half years after the events, the Santa Fe sheriff received a batch of bullets from a former police officer, claiming that the ammunition corresponded to the murder bullet. Enough to establish could establish and clarify the responsibilities of everyone in the tragedy.
However, these bullets were never transferred to the defense and they could not examine them. “It’s time to close this case,” Luke Nikas, one of Baldwin’s lawyers, said Friday morning.
A protest that was taken very seriously by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who examined the bullets herself with a pair of blue latex gloves. The magistrate dismissed the jurors until Monday morning, when they will decide on a possible mistrial.
“wrong path”
According to the prosecution, these bullets are not the same as the one that took the life of Ms. Hutchins, a promising 42-year-old cinematographer from Ukraine. “It’s a false lead,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey declared. “It has no probative value.”
But the prosecutor seemed very uncomfortable explaining why this batch of bullets didn’t play a bigger role in the investigation. “I never saw them until this morning,” she nervously explained to the judge.
When called to testify, Marissa Poppell, a technical expert for the Santa Fe sheriff, explained that there was a written report on those munitions, without being sent to the prosecution. She also found that there was no match between these bullets and the one from the homicide, despite some visual similarity.
Some appeal
The judge must now hear only new witnesses during a technical hearing that will determine the fate of the trial. The film’s weapons supplier and an investigator will be questioned about these bullets. The “Rust” gunman has already been tried separately and 18 months in prison in April.
Before this trial, Mr. Baldwin’s defense had already been raised on the appeals to quash it. The actor has always explained that he was convinced that the weapon was harmless, and he denies that he pulled the trigger.
His lawyers argue that even if he did push her by accident, there is no need for a conviction. According to film industry guidelines, it is not the duty of actors to verify that a weapon is safe.
The prosecution accuses Mr Baldwin of behaving erratically, neglecting basic safety rules and putting pressure on the rest of the staff. But according to the defense, this urge to pursue him strained the investigation and the police neglected certain leads.
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