Judge rules Alec Baldwin is actually (probably) going to trial

Alec Baldwin is still set to go on trial for involuntary manslaughter this July, Variety reports, after a New Mexico judge ruled that Baldwin’s latest, and presumably final, efforts to get the case against him dismissed—tied to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Western movie Rust— were for naught.

Baldwin is now just a bit more than a month out from the July 9 start date of the trial, in which the actor—a producer on the film, who was holding the weapon that killed Hutchins when it discharged on October 21, 2021, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza—will face charges of involuntary manslaughter. (The same charges that faced the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was sentenced to 18 months in jail after being found guilty of contributing to the fatal incident back in April.) Baldwin has tried very, very hard not to get brought up on these charges over the last three years—to the extent that charges against him were outright dropped back in 2023, amidst accusations that prosecutors had botched an over-zealous pursuit of him. But New Mexico prosecutors brought the case back to a grand jury earlier this year, who ultimately ruled that Baldwin should stand trial.

That grand jury proceeding was actually at the heart of Baldwin and his legal team’s latest strategy today, claiming the prosecutors unfairly prejudiced the grand jury against him, and failed to make defense witnesses available. But Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer disagreed, ruling that the hearing was fair—and thus removing one of the final legal obstacles between Baldwin and standing trial.

For his part, the actor has contended since day one that he didn’t pull the trigger on the gun. (Which has now been reportedly damaged during FBI testing—another of the claims Baldwin’s attorneys have put forward as a reason to have the case against him dismissed.) Baldwin has also discounted the idea that, despite his role on the film as a producer, he was responsible for safety on the movie’s set. His lawyers issued a statement this weekend in response to the ruling, saying, “We look forward to our day in court.”