Judge rejects Baldwin's request to drop indictment for 'Rust' shooting

A New Mexico judge today denied Alec Baldwin's request to dismiss a manslaughter charge for the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, paving the way for an unprecedented trial of a Hollywood actor for death on set.

Baldwin's lawyers argued at a May 17 hearing that a grand jury indictment of the actor was “a sham” because a New Mexico state attorney failed to tell the jurors that they could question defense witnesses and prevented them from hearing evidence helpful to the actor's case.

District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, in a court filing, denied the request.

The trial is scheduled for July 10.

Hutchins was shot with live ammunition after Baldwin pointed a gun at her while she was setting up a camera on a film set near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The “30 Rock” actor claims he didn't pull the trigger, a claim that has become central to the case.

Sommer sentenced gunsmith “Rust” Hannah Gutierrez to 18 months in prison in April after a Santa Fe jury convicted her of involuntary manslaughter for loading the live round into the reproduction Colt Single Action Army revolver with which Baldwin rehearsed.

Hutchins died in the first fatal on-set shooting with a live bullet mistaken for a dummy or blank bullet since Hollywood's silent era, according to historian Alan Rode.

Shootings on Hollywood film sets have in the past been settled by civil lawsuits, such as the last death in 1993 when Brandon Lee was killed when a blank round dislodged a bullet stuck in the barrel of a revolver during the filming of “The Crow”.