Alec Baldwin Prosecutor Asks Judge to Reconsider Manslaughter Case Dismissal

Actor Alec Baldwin, center, reacts as he sits between his attorneys Alex Spiro, left, and Luke Nikas after the judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M. (Ramsay de Give/Pool Photo via AP)

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06:37-5 September 2024 AD ـ 02 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1446 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

06:37-5 September 2024 AD ـ 02 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1446 AH

Alec Baldwin Prosecutor Asks Judge to Reconsider Manslaughter Case Dismissal

A US prosecutor has called on a judge to reconsider her dismissal of Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial, disputing the court's ruling that law enforcement authorities deliberately withheld key evidence in their case against the Hollywood star.
In a court motion made public Wednesday, New Mexico prosecutor Kari Morrissey said the decision to throw out the trial over a fatal shooting on the movie set of "Rust" was flawed, and that the evidence was held back only because it was "immaterial”, reported AFP.
"There was no cover-up because there was nothing to cover up," said the filing, which "respectfully requests the Court reconsider its dismissal of the case with prejudice."
Hollywood A-lister Baldwin was pointing a gun in the direction of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal in October 2021 when the weapon fired, killing her and wounding the film's director.
Prosecutors claimed he ignored basic gun safety laws and acted recklessly on set.
The defense said the actor had no responsibility for checking the weapon's contents and did not know it contained live rounds.
The high-profile case went to trial in July, but collapsed in spectacular fashion as judge Mary Marlowe Sommer found important evidence had been withheld from the defense.
Live bullets potentially matching the round used in the fatal shooting had been handed to law enforcement by former police officer Troy Teske, it emerged during trial.
But they were not disclosed to Baldwin's lawyers, and the evidence was not cataloged under the "Rust" case file by crime scene technicians.
Sommer ruled that the withholding of evidence was "intentional and deliberate."
She swiftly dismissed the case against Baldwin, who could have been sentenced to 18 months in prison if found guilty.
Legal experts said Baldwin was highly unlikely to see the inside of a criminal court again over the shooting.
But in their new motion, prosecutors argue that the "buried" rounds could have been "purchased at any gun store two and a half years after Ms Hutchins death" and were "immaterial to the case against Mr. Baldwin."
"Nothing about the details of how the live rounds were introduced to the set is relevant or material to the charges against Mr Baldwin... it was still Alec Baldwin's responsibility to handle his real prop gun safely," they wrote.
The motion also asks for Baldwin's lawyers to be ordered to explain how they learned of the ammunition handed to police by Teske, suggesting that "a record for possible review by a higher court can be created."

André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)

17:13-18 December 2024 AD ـ 17 Jumada Al-Alkhirah 1446 AH

André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)

No one was expecting it. Late last year, André 3000 released his debut solo album, "New Blue Sun," 18 years after his legendary rap group Outkast's last studio album, "Idlewild."

But "New Blue Sun" has "no bars," he jokes. It's a divergence from rap because "there was nothing I was liking enough to rap about, or I didn't feel it sounded fresh. I'm not about to serve you un-fresh (expletive.)"

Instead, he offered up a six-track instrumental album of ambient alt-jazz — with special attention paid to the flute.

"The sound, that's how I got into it," he says of the instrument. "The portability, too. You can't tote around a piano and play in Starbucks."

He's also invested in the flute's history — like learning about Mayan flutes made from clay, a design he had re-created in cedarwood. "There’s all kinds of fables and, you know, indigenous stories that go along with playing the flute — playing like the birds or playing your heart like the wind — it kind of met (me) where I was in life," he says.

"Flutes — wind instruments in general — are the closest thing you get to actually hearing a human," he continues. "You're actually hearing the breath of a person."

"New Blue Sun" is a stunning collection, one that has earned André 3000 three new Grammy Award nominations: album of the year, alternative jazz, and instrumental composition. Those arrive exactly 25 years after the 1999 Grammys, where Outkast received their first nomination — for "Rosa Parks," from their third album, "Aquemini" — and 20 years after the group won album of the year for "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below."

"It matters because we all want to be acknowledged or recognized," André 3000 says of his new Grammy nominations. "It's a type of proof of connection, in some type of way ... especially with the Grammys, because it's voted on by a committee of musicians and people in the industry."

He's a bit surprised by the attention, too, given the type of album he created. "We have no singles on the radio, not even singles that are hot in the street," he says. "When you're sitting next to Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, these are highly, hugely popular music artists, I'm satisfied just because of that ... we won just to be a part of the whole conversation."

He theorizes that it may be because popular music listening habits are broadening. "A lot of artists are just trying different things. Even, you know, the album that Beyoncé is nominated for, it’s not her normal thing," he says of her country-and-then-some record, "Cowboy Carter.We’re in this place where things are kind of shifting and moving."

For André 3000, "New Blue Sun" has allowed him to "feel like a whole new artist," but it is also an extension of who he's always been. "Being on the road with Outkast and picking up a bass clarinet at a pawn shop in New York and just sitting on the back of the bus playing with it — these things have been around," he says.

He's also always embraced "newness," as he puts it, experimenting creatively "even if it sounds non-masterful."

"Even producing for Outkast, I was just learning these instruments. If I ... put my hands down and play ‘Ms. Jackson,’ I'm not knowing what I'm playing. But I like it," he says.

As for a new Outkast album, "I never say never," he says. "But I can say that the older I get, I feel like that time has happened."

Alec Baldwin Prosecutor Asks Judge to Reconsider Manslaughter Case Dismissal

Alec Baldwin Prosecutor Asks Judge to Reconsider Manslaughter Case Dismissal

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André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

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