{"id":33196,"date":"2024-07-08T19:45:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T23:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/entertainment\/alec-baldwins-role-as-a-producer-ruled-not-relevant-to-rust-trial\/08\/07\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-07-08T19:45:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T23:45:04","slug":"alec-baldwins-role-as-a-producer-ruled-not-relevant-to-rust-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/entertainment\/alec-baldwins-role-as-a-producer-ruled-not-relevant-to-rust-trial\/08\/07\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Alec Baldwin\u2019s Role as a Producer Ruled Not Relevant to \u2018Rust\u2019 Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A judge in New Mexico ruled on Monday that Alec Baldwin\u2019s role as a producer of the film \u201cRust\u201d was not relevant to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/19\/arts\/alec-baldwin-charged-involuntary-manslaughter.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">his upcoming trial for involuntary manslaughter<\/a> in the fatal shooting of its cinematographer in 2021, dealing a setback to the prosecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer of the First Judicial District in New Mexico ruled that prosecutors could not argue that Mr. Baldwin\u2019s role as a member of the film\u2019s production team \u2014 he was one of its producers in addition to being its leading man \u2014 had made him more culpable for the death of the film\u2019s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was a blow to the prosecution, which had sought to make Mr. Baldwin\u2019s role as a producer part of their case. \u201cAs the producer he has the power to control safety on set, and there was a tremendous lack of safety on this set,\u201d one of the prosecutors, Erlinda O. Johnson, argued in court earlier on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Baldwin\u2019s defense has disputed that, saying that as a member of the production team he was involved in creative matters, but that others had authority over hiring and budgets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The judge ruled that the prosecution could not present evidence about Mr. Baldwin\u2019s position as one of the film\u2019s producers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m having real difficulty with the state\u2019s position that they want to show that, as a producer, he didn\u2019t follow guidelines and therefore, as an actor, Mr. Baldwin did all of these things wrong resulting in the death of Ms. Hutchins because as a producer he allowed these things to happen,\u201d Judge Marlowe Sommer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Stephen D. Aarons, a veteran defense lawyer in New Mexico, said that Mr. Baldwin\u2019s role as a producer could still have a bearing in some of the upcoming civil cases stemming from the fatal shooting, but not in the criminal one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBaldwin was wearing his actor\u2019s hat when the gun discharged, and only in that role may the jury decide any criminal liability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Baldwin appeared in the Santa Fe courthouse for the pretrial motions wearing a suit with a gray striped tie and glasses with thick dark frames. He seemed to pay close attention to the proceedings, taking notes and leaning over to speak with a lawyer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury for his role in the fatal shooting of Ms. Hutchins, who was killed on Oct. 21, 2021, when a gun he was rehearsing with on the set discharged a live bullet. He has pleaded not guilty, saying he was told the gun did not contain live ammunition. He has also said he did not pull the trigger before the bullet fired, which prosecutors dispute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Judge Marlowe Sommer also placed limits on which video evidence could be shown to the jury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She ruled that jurors could be shown videos that prosecutors believe bolster their argument that Mr. Baldwin was reckless while handling guns on set. Prosecutors have said that footage shows the actor with his finger on the trigger when it was not required and using his gun as a pointer to direct crew members.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the judge said the jury could not be shown videos unrelated to Mr. Baldwin handling weapons; prosecutors had sought to admit a video in which he exhorts the crew to work faster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEverything else regarding him yelling at the crew or telling people to hurry up \u2014 none of that is relevant,\u201d Judge Marlowe Sommer ordered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The decision was a partial victory for the defense, which has argued that some of the videos the prosecution intended to introduce were aimed at smearing Mr. Baldwin\u2019s character rather than laying out evidence for his conduct on the day of the fatal shooting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMr. Baldwin swore on set \u2014 he cussed \u2014 and therefore, what, he committed homicide?\u201d Luke Nikas, a lawyer for Mr. Baldwin, said at Monday\u2019s hearing. \u201cMr. Baldwin\u2019s not a murderer on the 21st because he swore on the 16th.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jury selection is scheduled for Tuesday, with opening arguments very likely to start on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/08\/movies\/alec-baldwin-rust-trial.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A judge in New Mexico ruled on Monday that Alec Baldwin&rsquo;s role as a producer of the film &ldquo;Rust&rdquo; was not relevant<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/entertainment\/alec-baldwins-role-as-a-producer-ruled-not-relevant-to-rust-trial\/08\/07\/2024\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}