A judge denied Alec Baldwin's motion to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge he faces in regards to the fatal Rust shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, The New York Times reports today.
Baldwin is now set to face trial starting in July, and could face up to 18 months in prison if convicted. Baldwin's lawyers had essentially tried to say the actor had been treated unfairly by the prosecution, which they argue had "steered grand jurors away" from witnesses who might have testified in Baldwin's favor. Santa Fe judge Mary Sommer, however, concluded that the prosecution had not acted in "bad faith," and that the case had been properly presented to the jury.
“We look forward to our day in court,” Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, attorneys for Alec Baldwin, said in a statement to NBC News .
The case stems from an incident on October 21, 2021 , in which a prop gun held by Baldwin fired a live round of ammunition during a rehearsal for low-budget western film Rust. The round killed the 42-year-old Hutchins and also injured director Joel Souza, though not critically.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty, and has claimed in previous interviews that he did not pull the trigger of the gun, but that it fired because of a malfunction. Still, special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey argued during a May 17 hearing that “the actor has responsibility for the firearms once it is in their hands.”
Charges against Baldwin were dropped in April 2023 , although the investigation into the fatal incident continued. This past January, Baldwin was hit again with an involuntary manslaughter charge following further investigation.
Last month, Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter due to her connection to the shooting, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison .
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Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.