ALEC Baldwin entered court for his pre-trial hearing on Monday morning.
The actor walked into the New Mexico courthouse clutching a tote bag ahead of his trial for the accidental shooting of cinematographer Haylna Hutchins.
In 2021, Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter after a gun he was holding on the set of his movie Rust accidentally fired and fatally hit Hutchins.
Baldwin walked out of his Suburban while carrying a Barnes and Noble tote bag this morning.
The actor casually stepped out of the vehicle wearing a dark suit with a blue shirt and tie underneath.
He was accompanied by his defense attorney Alex Spiro.
The 30-rock star did not address any reporters, Fox News Digital reported.
The actor was excused from the pre-trial hearing, but he chose to attend anyway.
Baldwin pleaded not guilty but still faces up to 18 months in jail if he gets convicted.
The SNL star stands by his original statement that he cocked the gun but didn’t pull the trigger.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer will be determining what evidence is admissible in his trial.
Jury selection for the case will begin on Tuesday.
In May, Baldwin’s lawyers asked that the charges get dropped against him, arguing that the actor’s due-process was violated, People reported.
His lawyers claimed that government agents testing the gun deprived the defense of the opportunity to conduct their own tests.
“Government agents knew that the firearm would not survive their clumsy ‘tests’ intact. They said so explicitly in emails,” attorneys for Baldwin wrote.
“The insistence of prosecutors eager to prove a celebrity’s guilt, they nevertheless blundered ahead without preserving the original state of the firearm through photographs, video or other means; without informing Baldwin or his counsel they were conducting destructive testing; and without any realistic prospect that bludgeoning the gun would reveal whether Baldwin had pulled the trigger on the day of the accident.”
Prosecutors responded to the defendant’s argument stating that the condition of the gun was carefully documented prior to testing and the testing did not violate any due-process.
Judge Sommer heard the arguments of the motion in late June and decided to uphold the charges against Baldwin.
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