Alec Baldwin seeks to dismiss 'Rust' shooting manslaughter charge, claims Nevada Grand Jury is 'rigged'

On Thursday, actor Alec Baldwin's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charges against him in connection to the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie "Rust."

According to a court document obtained by Variety, Baldwin's attorneys accused prosecutors of "violating nearly every rule in the book" when making their case to the grand jury to bring the charges.

“Enough is enough,” the documents said. "This is an abuse of the system and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme.”

Baldwin's defense team claimed that “The State had one goal — indict Baldwin, no matter the truth, no matter the rules or the Court rulings, and no matter what it took to do so." They alleged that special prosecutor Kari Morrissey acted "vindictive and malicious" in how she presented the case to the grand jury.

The documents said Morrissey failed to notify the jurors that they could hear from defense team witnesses, withheld evidence about the working order of the firearm used, and that she gave insufficient instructions to the jury about the definition of the term "involuntary manslaughter."

The documents allege that the firearm used showed signs of being filed down, and aged even though it was said to be brand new. They claimed that it would have been able to fire without pulling the trigger as Baldwin originally claimed, but the jury was not made aware of this.

Baldwin is accused of involuntary manslaughter after the prop gun he was holding was mistakenly loaded with live ammo and was fired by the actor, and killed Hutchinson. Baldwin blamed armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and she blamed him.

Charges were previously dropped against Baldwin because he said the gun went off without him pulling the trigger. After FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler tested the gun and concluded that it would not fire unless the trigger was pulled, charges were re-filed.

Earlier this month, armorer Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after the jury determined she failed to ensure that proper gun safety protocols were taken and that her actions, or lack thereof, resulted in the killing.

Baldwin's trial is set to begin July 9 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.