'Rust' star Alec Baldwin files 'Hail Mary' motions to throw out involuntary manslaughter indictment: expert
Alec Baldwin is fighting his involuntary manslaughter indictment with two new motions to dismiss.
Baldwin's legal team filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for failure to allege a criminal offense and an additional motion to dismiss the indictment with prejudice based on the state's destruction of evidence. Both court documents, obtained by Fox News Digital, were filed on May 6.
The prosecution has failed to show that the "30 Rock" actor even committed a crime, Baldwin's legal team argued. His lawyers pointed out that the prosecution admitted the "prospect of live ammunition" being present on the "Rust" set was "incomprehensible." Additionally, the filing noted it was the armorer's responsibility to ensure the gun didn't contain live rounds.
"With no awareness that the firearm might contain live rounds, Baldwin had no reason to believe — zero — that his manipulation of the firearms could lead to death, let alone a belief that his alleged actions posed a substantial risk to Hutchins."
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Baldwin's lawyers also brought up the destroyed firearm. The Pietta 45 Colt revolver replica was destroyed during testing conducted by the FBI at the request of the prosecution. The "intentional" destruction of the gun by the prosecution keeps Baldwin from having a fair trial, according to the court docs.
"Simply put, there is no way to undo what the government has done," his lawyers wrote. "Although Baldwin's attorneys can make their best effort to persuade a jury that the defects or modifications to the sear and hammer notches — including the virtually nonexistent full-cock notch — preexisted the FBI's testing, Baldwin has forever lost the chance to probe that fact without doubt, because the government did not even take the basic step of documenting the condition of the firearm's internal components before destroying it. And Baldwin's counsel will never be able to test the firearm in its original state to determine whether pulling the hammer would have resulted in a discharge."
Baldwin's three motions to dismiss the indictment are his team just "swinging for the fences" and a "Hail Mary," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said.
"No. 1, there's a small chance that it's granted," Rahmani told Fox News Digital. "Two, unless you make the motion, you lose the opportunity to appeal that issue."
"So, what you want to do in cases like this is throw everything out there, take a kitchen sink approach," he added. "So, if for some reason the motion is denied, you get the opportunity to relitigate it on appeal."
Rahmani explained Baldwin's "high-priced" law firm is trying to "paper the prosecution" with multiple motions.
"They're just going to continue to file and try to paper the prosecution, which is understaffed and overwhelmed," he said. "This type of law motion work puts them on their heels and creates more work for them."
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Baldwin was indicted on two counts — involuntary manslaughter, negligent use of a firearm, or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter without due caution or circumspection — on Jan. 19.
In his original motion to dismiss, Baldwin's team argued the prosecution failed to present crucial evidence to the grand jury.
"Enough is enough," the court documents stated. "This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme."
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Special prosecutors called out Baldwin's legal team for lying and manipulation in their reply to the actor's original motion to dismiss.
"The defendant's motion to dismiss is predictably false, misleading, and histrionic misrepresentation of the facts and circumstances of the history of the case," the prosecution's filing said. "The two special prosecutors who have been assigned the prosecution of Mr. Baldwin have experienced near countless lies and manipulation from the defense for more than one year. In addition, we have, and certainly will continue to be, the subject of the defendant's contrived and unwarranted personal attacks."
The 316-page motion mirrored Baldwin's lengthy request to dismiss and focused on giving a "factual and procedural history" of the case.
Baldwin and the prosecution will face off in court as jury selection is set to begin July 9.