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Alec Baldwin urges judge to stand by dismissal of involuntary manslaughter case in 2021 “Rust” shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin’s due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, co-producer and lead actor in the film “Rust,” was pointing a revolver at Hutchins during a rehearsal in a small church on the movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers alleged that they “buried” it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described “egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct” by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link between the live ammo on set and Gutierrez-Reed, to drive home the argument that Baldwin should have recognized the armorer’s blundering youth and inexperience.
“Baldwin was intitled to pursue the truth at trial, especially after he requested to see ‘all rounds, casings and deconstructed rounds’ in the state’s possession,” the new court filing by defense attorneys states. “Yet the state deliberately withheld the evidence that Baldwin had requested.”
“Rust” movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving an 18-month sentence on a conviction for involuntary manslaughter. She was accused of flouting standard safety protocols and missing multiple opportunities to detect forbidden live ammunition on set.
Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A no contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday will visit the Pennsylvania ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
He is expected to go to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant to kick off a busy week in the United States shoring up support for Ukraine in the war, according to two U.S. officials and a third familiar with Zelenskyy’s schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public. He also will address the U.N. General Assembly annual gathering in New York and travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells. They are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15 miles to 20 miles (24 kilometers to 32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.
Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of the 155 mm shells from the U.S.
With the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. for permission to use longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia.
So far he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.
At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155 mm shells per day. That rate started to deplete U.S. stockpiles and drew concern that the level on hand was not enough to sustain U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as in a potential conflict over Taiwan.
In response, the U.S. has invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155 mm rounds a month, with plans to hit 100,000 rounds a month. During his visit, Zelenskyy is expected to meet and thank workers who have increased production of the 155 mm rounds over the past year.
Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed that increased production through — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer — are also expected to join Zelenskyy at the plant, as is Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa.
The 155 mm rounds are just one of the scores of ammunition, missile, air defense and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has provided Ukraine — everything from small arms bullets to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraine, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner countries have collected to aid in its defense.
Even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, commitment to its defense is seen by many of the European nations as a must to keep Putin from further military aggression that could threaten bordering NATO-member countries and result in a much larger conflict.
Federal agents have boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI has confirmed to CBS News.
In statements Saturday, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities have boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the FBI told CBS News in a statement.
The agency said it was “unable to comment further.”
In a lawsuit Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department has alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel that had a power outage moments before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Six men who were doing work on the bridge died.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port.
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning.
Wilson has previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight” about the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
The budget motel chain Motel 6 is being acquired by the parent company of Oyo, a hotel operator based in India.
The New York-based investment firm Blackstone, which owns Motel 6’s parent company G6 Hospitality, announced Friday that the deal would be an all-cash transaction worth $525 million.
The transaction will also include the sale of the Studio 6 motel brand, which caters to customers seeking extended stays. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images G
Oyo, which launched in India just over a decade ago, has been expanding its footprint in the U.S. over the past few years. The company says it currently operates 320 hotels across 35 states and is aiming to add 250 more this year.
“This acquisition is a significant milestone for a startup company like us to strengthen our international presence,” Gautam Swaroop, OYO’s international division chief, said in a statement.
Blackstone had purchased Motel 6 and Studio 6 in 2012 for $1.9 billion. Since then, the private equity giant says it has heavily invested in the brand and pursued a strategy that converted the chain into a franchise.
“This transaction is a terrific outcome for investors and is the culmination of an ambitious business plan that more than tripled our investors’ capital and generated over $1 billion in profit over our hold period,” Rob Harper, the head of Blackstone Real Estate Asset Management Americas, said in a statement.
Under the deal, Oravel Stays, which owns Oyo, will acquire G6 Hospitality.