Judge in Alec Baldwin's Rust trial denies request to revive manslaughter case

The judge in Alec Baldwin's Rust trial has denied a request from the prosecutor to revive the manslaughter case against the actor.

Prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey had asked Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to reconsider the dismissal of Alec Baldwin's case.

However, Judge Sommer, has refused the request because the filing exceeded a 10-page limit.

The request, filed on 30 August, contained a 52-page motion and an additional 387 pages of exhibits. The judge cautioned Morrissey "to comply in the future with our rules of appellate procedure," adding that "briefs that exceed the page limits, even when this Court has approved the additional pages, are almost invariably unpersuasive."

Baldwin, 66, was indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year after the incident in 2021 on the set of Rust, when the prop gun he was holding went off. The fired bullet killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has always maintained he did not pull the trigger or know why it contained live ammunition.

The armorer on Rust, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has already been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and is currently in prison. She is currently trying to appeal the conviction and be freed.

It's believed this dismissal from the judge makes it hard for Baldwin's case to be re-tried.