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Alec Baldwin was prone to outbursts on the set of Rust, prosecutors argue in a new filing. The star showed “absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct affects those around him,” according to the filing, which described Baldwin yelling and cursing on set, sometimes out of nowhere, per Variety. “Witnesses have testified that it was this exact conduct that contributed to safety compromises on set,” wrote prosecutor Kari Morrissey. The filing was in response to a March motion from Baldwin’s defense asking to dismiss his indictment for involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Halyna Hutchins, to which he pleaded not guilty.
In the filing, Morrissey also defended prosecutors’ decision to go ahead with a felony charge against Baldwin after they dropped it at one point. She described a meeting where Baldwin’s attorneys made a PowerPoint presentation arguing against the manslaughter charge and threatened to call witnesses like Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. They also claimed the prop gun was more likely to fire without the trigger being pulled — in line with Baldwin’s insistence that he did not pull the trigger. Morrissey said she dropped the charge after their meeting and awaited more testing on the gun.
When forensics said the trigger had to be pulled for the gun to fire, Morrissey offered Baldwin a misdemeanor plea deal, reportedly similar to the offer for first assistant director Dave Halls (who received unsupervised probation and no jail time). Baldwin’s attorneys planned to accept while also plotting a civil case against the case’s original prosecutors and the state of New Mexico that Morrissey described as “frivolous.” Morrissey also said Baldwin had been “actively pressuring material witnesses in the case” by working on a documentary about Hutchins. That led her to rescind the plea deal and proceed with the felony charge. Morrissey wrote that she “learned some tough lessons” while dealing with Baldwin’s attorneys, whom she accused of trying to delay the case. (They reportedly have no plans to call Ford and Mirren as witnesses, as they threatened.) Baldwin is set to go to trial in July.
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By Justin Curto , 2024-04-09 17:21:31
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