Alec Baldwin faces two counts of manslaughter.
Alec Baldwin’s lawyers has asked a court in New Mexico to dismiss manslaughter charges against the actor in the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the filming of the movie ‘Rust‘, according to New York Post. The plea comes a week after a jury found the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez guilty in a separate trial. Hutchins was hit by a live round fired from the Colt .45 that Baldwin was holding for a scene inside a wooden church on the New Mexico set. The actor has repeatedly denied responsibility, insisting he did not pull the trigger.
“Enough is enough. This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme,” his lawyers said in their plea, as per the Post report.
They also argued that prosecutors have “publicly dragged Baldwin through the cesspool created by their improprieties”.
The lawyers further said that the state withheld “substantial exculpatory and favourable evidence” from the grand jury.
The plea cites an example that prosecutors did not call a witness who would have testified that Baldwin’s role as producer was purely for creative purposes and he had no role in enforcing safety protocols.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said she would respond in court and was given 14 days to file a reply.
Baldwin faces two counts of manslaughter, one for negligent use of a firearm and another for failure to exercise due caution.
His involuntary manslaughter trial is expected to start in July.
Meanwhile, the court was told that on the day Hutchins was shot, the armourer was characteristically haphazard with her supervision of the more than 20 guns the production was using, and was not present as Baldwin and the crew prepared the scene.
“She left the gun in the church, contrary to all the industry standards for armorers on movie sets,” said lawyer Kari Morrissey.
Hutchins, who was 42 at the time of her death and the mother of a young child, was standing near the camera that would be used to film the scene.