(RightWing.org) – Hollywood star Alec Baldwin’s defense attorneys just tried a new plan. This time they claim the actor can’t get a fair trial on manslaughter charges because the gun he killed a cinematographer with was damaged during FBI tests. Unfortunately for them, the judge wasn’t convinced.
On October 21, 2021, Baldwin was on the set of the western movie “Rust” when the pistol he was holding fired a single live round, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has always insisted the gun fired although he didn’t pull the trigger. The problem with his defense is that this is technically impossible.
In December 2022, while the FBI had control of the Italian-made replica Colt Peacemaker to carry out DNA tests on it, Baldwin repeated his claim. At this point, the Bureau said they could also carry out an accidental discharge test on the pistol, but that it might get broken in the process. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said go ahead, so the FBI clamped the pistol in a vise and hit its hammer with a rawhide mallet. It didn’t fire, but it broke.
On June 24, Baldwin’s lawyer Josh Bash demanded the judge dismiss the charges against Baldwin, saying it was “outrageous” the Bureau had destroyed the gun without giving the defense a chance to examine it. However, prosecutors said the defense still has other evidence — and also warned there’s so much evidence against the actor that the chances of the gun clearing him were “extremely low.” One piece of that evidence is that Baldwin himself told OSHA the gun wasn’t faulty.
On June 27, New Mexico District Judge Mary Marlowe Summer ruled on the defense request — and she refused it. Summer said the case needs to be decided in a trial. That trial will now begin with jury selection on July 9.
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