(PartiallyPolitics.com) – Judge Mary Marlow Sommer in New Mexico has denied the latest appeal of actor Alec Baldwin to have the involuntary manslaughter charges dismissed following the 2021 fatal shooting on the set of “Rust.” The case trial is set to start early next month.
Sommer in her recent decision had sided with prosecutors, despite Baldwin’s legal team arguing that the firearm responsible for the shooting had been damaged during the forensic testing by the FBI. The damage had occurred before the gun could be examined for any possible modifications that might allow Biden to present more evidence in his support during the trial.
The Associated Press argued that the decision of the judge is clearing the way for prosecutors to bring the case forward to a jury. The trial is set to start on July 9 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The attorneys have a list of witnesses which includes Rust director Joel Souza, who had been wounded during the shooting, assistant director Dae Halls who has pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon, as well as a number of other witnesses.
On the set of the 2021 film, Baldwin had pointed the gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when the revolver had gone off and had killed her.
The actor has pleaded not guilty claiming that he had not pulled the prop gun’s trigger, which had been erroneously loaded.
During a test, the FBI had accidentally broken the gun, as they struck it with a mallet from different sides. Prosecutors however have argued that the firearm had been working properly on the set and that it is not possible for it to have been fired if the trigger had never been pulled.
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