American actor Alec Baldwin, who is charged with manslaughter over a fatal shooting on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021, requested on Wednesday that his trial in a New Mexico court be held on short notice, according to court documents.
• Also read: Fatal shooting in the film “Rust”: Alec Baldwin again charged with involuntary manslaughter
• Also read: Alec Baldwin's fatal shooting: Will the 'Rust' gunsmith finally reveal where the fatal bullet came from?
• Also read: Alec Baldwin faces new charges in fatal on-set shooting
On October 21, 2021, the filming of the western “Rust” in New Mexico (southwest of the USA) turned into drama when Alec killed Baldwin with a weapon that allegedly only contained blank bullets, including a projectile that was clearly real, cameraman Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
This rare news shocked Hollywood and provoked calls for a ban on firearms on sets.
The 65-year-old actor, who faces 18 months in prison if convicted, protested his innocence from the start. He always maintained that he had been assured that his weapon was harmless and also denied having pulled the trigger.
An initial charge of manslaughter led to the charges being dropped in April before a new charge was announced by the responsible public prosecutor's office on Friday.
AFP
According to legal documents accessed by AFP, the court ordered Alec Baldwin to appear virtually or in person to answer the charges before February 1.
His defense responded on Wednesday with a motion in which the actor called for a speedy, legally compliant trial.
His lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, argued that the motion was aimed at “mitigating public defamation and suspicion and avoiding the dangers to proving one's innocence that often arise from a long delay in prosecution.”
The gunsmith from the film “Rust,” Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is also charged with manslaughter in the case and her trial is scheduled to begin on February 21.
During the initial investigation, police concluded that she was the one who put the ammunition in the gun used by Alec Baldwin, and not a dummy.
The investigation never clarified how live ammunition ended up on the set, where only blank cartridges are allowed.