The judge in Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” case upholds manslaughter charges for the third time

New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer issued the ruling on Friday, June 28, clearing the way for the actor’s trial to begin in July

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Alec Baldwin

The judge presiding over Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter case upheld the charges against him on Friday, June 28, allowing his trial to begin next month.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer upheld the charges for the third time in five weeks.

Baldwin’s lawyers, who held a prop gun on the set of the Western Rust in 2021, when he was fired after killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, filed a motion in May arguing that the actor’s “due process” was violated because the weapons were destroyed when government agents tested them, depriving the defense of the ability to conduct its own weapons tests.

Baldwin insisted he didn’t pull the trigger or know why the gun contained live ammunition. Prosecutors ordered a forensic examination of the gun to determine whether it could have fired without pressing the trigger.

Related: Everything you need to know about Rust Alec Baldwin’s shooting case and upcoming trial

“Government agents knew the firearms would not survive their clumsy ‘tests’ intact. They made that clear in their emails,” Baldwin’s lawyers wrote in a May 6 motion.

Eddie Moore-Pool/Getty

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer February 22

“But under pressure from prosecutors eager to prove a celebrity’s guilt, they nonetheless erred by failing to preserve the gun’s original condition through photos, video, or otherwise; by conducting destructive testing without informing Baldwin or his attorney; and without any realistic prospect that bludgeoning the gun would reveal whether Baldwin had pulled the trigger on the day of the accident,” they continued, adding that “destruction of potentially exculpatory evidence constitutes a violation of due process.”

In their response, the prosecution argued that Baldwin’s due process was not violated and that defense attorneys failed to demonstrate whether the weapon was “exculpatory or potentially exculpatory in nature.” They also wrote that investigators “thoroughly documented” the condition of the weapon before testing.

Sommer heard testimony and arguments on the motion during hearings on Friday, June 21, and Monday, June 24.

Sonia Recchia/Getty Halyna Hutchins in 2018

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One witness, FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler, said it took between two and two-and-a-half pounds of force to pull the trigger for the gun to fire.

But Baldwin’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, focused on the obvious fact described in the gun’s manual that the trigger could automatically fire when placed in a certain position.

“The Court finds and concludes that defendant has failed to prove that the State acted in bad faith by destroying certain internal components of the firearm during accidental discharge testing,” Sommer wrote in her order.

“In other words, the evidence before the Court does not establish that the State or its agents knew that the unmodified firearm had exonerating value at the time the accidental discharge tests were conducted and yet destroyed it, which indicates that this evidence could have exonerated the defendant,” she continued.

Sommer added that prosecutors “must, however, fully disclose the destructive nature of the firearms testing, the resulting losses, and the significance and weight of the testing to the jury. The state must question relevant witnesses to obtain that disclosure. In addition, the defendant is entitled to cross-examine the state’s witnesses to further achieve that remedy.”

Related: Convicted Rust Armswoman whom prosecutors want to testify in Alec Baldwin’s trial said she wants to see him ‘in jail’

A judge has already upheld the manslaughter charge on two other occasions. Baldwin’s lawyers filed the motion in March, arguing that special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey gave prejudicial instructions to a grand jury that indicted the actor in January. It heard arguments at that hearing on May 17, then denied the motion a week later.

On May 6, the same day that Baldwin’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds of destruction of evidence, they also filed a separate motion to dismiss the case because of prosecutors’ alleged “failure to charge a crime.”

Matt Agudo / SplashNews

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Matt Agudo / SplashNews

Alec Baldwin

Sommer also heard arguments on that motion on June 21 and issued a ruling immediately thereafter, again upholding the plea.

In March, Rust Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of the weapons on the set, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her role in Hutchins’ accidental death. Sommer was also the judge presiding over the case. Gutierrez-Reed, currently serving 18 months in prison, is appealing.

Baldwin’s trial is set to begin July 9. If found guilty, he also faces up to 18 months in prison.

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