Prosecutors, Baldwin win and lose some in morning hearings

Jun. 21—A daylong pretrial motion hearing in the criminal case against actor and producer Alec Baldwin got off to a rousing start Friday morning.

Baldwin's local counsel Heather LeBlanc accused special prosecutors of manipulating the court system, making false statements and withholding discovery, all within the first 10 minutes of state District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer calling the case.

LeBlanc accused the state of attempting to exclude nine defense witnesses disclosed on May 6, the deadline for adding witnesses, then changing course when the defense voluntarily eliminated nearly half of its own witnesses by adding those witnesses to the state's witness list, warranting the judge to intervene per a concept known as "judicial estoppel" which allows the court to prevent litigants from asserting claims that are directly contrary to their previous position.

Baldwin is slated to stand trial next month on an involuntary manslaughter charge in connection with the 2021 on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed by a bullet that came from a gun Baldwin was using during a walk-through of a scene in his movie Rust, which was being filmed south of Santa Fe.

Baldwin has pleaded not guilty, saying he didn't pull the trigger on the gun and it simply discharged.

A jury convicted former Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed of the fourth-degree felony charge in March, after prosecutors argued she inadvertently introduced live ammunition onto the set and loaded a real bullet instead of a dummy round into the revolver used by Baldwin. She's currently serving an 18-month prison sentence.

Rust assistant director David Halls was also charged in the case and pleaded no contest to one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon as part of a deal with prosecutors that called for him to serve six months probation. Halls testified at Gutierrez-Reed's trial he didn't properly check every round in the gun prior to the incident.

LeBlanc told the court Friday the state's about-face is forcing the defense to scramble to prepare for witnesses' testimony Baldwin's team had already strategically decided to exclude, just two weeks before the July 9 jury selection in the case is scheduled to take place. She accused the state of "calculated sandbagging," an allegation the state had previously leveled against the defense.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson said the argument the defense was prejudiced by the state's addition of the witnesses was "disingenuous," given the witnesses in question are the defense's own witnesses and it's common for the state to add any defense witnesses to its list.

Judge Sommer denied the motion, saying the defense hadn't shown how they would be prejudiced by the state adding witnesses the defense had itself contemplated calling.

LeBlanc said during the argument Baldwin intends to call about 25 witnesses and the state has listed about 50.

The court next took up the state's motion asking the court to grant opposed use immunity to former Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to order her to testify for the prosecution during Baldwin's trial.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued Gutierrez-Reed refused to answer most of the state's questions during a pretrial interview, improperly citing her Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination even when the questions were not asking for information that would incriminate her. Morrissey argued Baldwin's defense wants to introduce statements the armorer previously made which would be favorable to his case at trial and the state should have the opportunity to elicit testimony that could implicate Baldwin.

For example, Morrissey argued in a written motion, Gutierrez-Reed would be asked to testify that Baldwin was "inattentive" during a firearms training session she conducted with him and agreed to participate in additional training the following day but failed to do so.

The armorer would also testify Baldwin would become upset and have emotional fits, that he was not supposed to be cocking the gun or pulling the trigger during the rehearsal during which the gun went off and that he frequently rushed her when she was loading weapons.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorney Jason Bowles countered his client has appealed her conviction and still has a pending case accusing her of unlawful carrying of a firearm in a licensed liquor establishment to consider which justifies her caution in answering questions in open court, something she didn't do even in her own trial.

Sommer denied the state's motion, saying prosecutors would have to accept that Gutierrez-Reed doesn't wish to testify, anticipate that she's likely to invoke her Fifth Amendment right even if subpoenaed to testify and plan accordingly.

Morrissey indicated she would likely renew the motion.

Next, the judge considered one of Baldwin's two pending motions to dismiss, based on his argument the state has failed to state a criminal defense against him because the involuntary manslaughter charge requires the state to prove he knew his actions posed a substantial risk of harm.

"They told jurors in [Gutierrez-Reed's] trial the prospect of live ammunition on that set was 'incomprehensible,'" defense attorney John Bash said. "You can't square that with saying that he had a subjective awareness that what he was doing could kill somebody."

Morrissey argued there is circumstantial evidence — including that Baldwin knew he had a "bad" armorer — that will show he knew there were risks associated with the use of the gun on set.

The judge denied the defense motion, saying the arguments made by each of the parties regarding what Baldwin should or shouldn't have known is "at the core" of what the jurors would be asked to decide in the case.

Score at the lunch break: State 2, Baldwin 1.

There are still two pending motions for the judge to consider as the hearing continues this afternoon, including Baldwin's motion to dismiss the case based on the state's "destruction of evidence." The motion is based on the argument the revolver Baldwin held during the scene was damaged during FBI testing prior to Gutierrez-Reed's trial.

The judge is also set to consider the state's request for clarification of an order prohibiting the District Attorney from serving as co-counsel on the case. The judge previously ruled First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies could appoint a special prosecutor or handle the case herself but not do both. Special prosecutors have since indicated they would like to add a third person to the prosecution team, a District Attorney's Office employee — whom the office has as yet declined to identify — who would be on unpaid leave from the prosecutor's office will working on the case.

This is a developing story and will be updated.