Alec Baldwin To Skip Latest ‘Rust’ Court Hearing In New Mexico – Deadline

Once again, Alec Baldwin will not appear at a criminal hearing for the rust shooting that killed Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.

Just hours before a rescheduled virtual hearing Thursday before New Mexico Judge Mary Marlow Sommer with co-defendants and ex-rust Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Baldwin, has requested and received a waiver of appearance.

“I understand that I am charged under New Mexico state statute with the following offense or offenses: Involuntary Homicide (Section 30-2-3(B), NMSA 1978) in two alternatives,” Baldwin said in a filing Thursday in Santa Fe County. “I am aware that I have the right to appear in person at any stage of the criminal proceedings,” he added. “Having read and understood the foregoing, I ask the court to permit me to waive my personal court appearance for the following proceedings: All status conferences.”

Sommer granted the motion, which likely had as much to do with Baldwin and his New York City-based attorneys Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan trying to dim the media spotlight on the case as it did with the content of today’s meeting self.

Still, the process for a hearing originally scheduled for March 8, similar to when 64-year-old Baldwin officially entered a plea of ​​not guilty and waived his right on February 23, is virtually ahead at the first hearing to appear in court. Profile Next Day Affair. Reed did not waive her right to appear and was present onscreen at that gathering on February 24 with her attorney Jason Bowles, the judge, and prosecutor Mary Carmack-Altwies.

Like Baldwin, who faces up to 18 months in prison and various fines if found guilty, Reed, 25, has not filed an official plea. He is expected to be present at today’s remote hearing.

With the release of an FBI-backed investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office last November, Baldwin and Reed were officially charged by prosecutors on Jan. 31 on two counts of negligent manslaughter in the Oct. 21, 2021 death of Hutchins on Bonanza Creek ranch charged. rust Director Joel Souza was also wounded by live ammunition emanating from the 1880s prop cannon star/producer Baldwin was holding.

The original charges included an amendment that carried a mandatory five-year sentence if Baldwin and/or Reed were found guilty. Amid protests and claims from lawyers for the defendants that the charges were “unconstitutional,” the somewhat red-faced prosecutor’s office removed the charges last month. As risen rust Pledged to go into production soon in Montana, Baldwin and his team are also trying to get special prosecutor Andrea Reeb off the case for her dual role as New Mexico’s recently elected GOP rep.

The prosecutor has pushed back, insisting that Reed, a seasoned prosecutor, can serve on both assignments and that there is no conflict of interest.

With or without Baldwin, at this afternoon’s status hearing, Sommer and the various attorneys will likely find out when they will discuss the specific skirmish with the prosecution. You could also put a date for a preliminary hearing in the calendar for the next few months.

With a theoretical trial looming, the obligations of the lawyers involved, the prosecution and perhaps even the judge herself will determine whether anything comes of this sooner or later – but bet on the latter.