Alec Baldwin’s request to have a grand jury indictment against him dropped has been denied, meaning that the actor will still be going to trial for the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

“It is ordered that defendant Alec Baldwin’s Motion to dismiss the indictment is hereby denied,” said Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. The State v. Alexander Rae Baldwin trial is due to start in Santa Fe on July 9th and is expected to last around two weeks. The actor faces involuntary manslaughter charges and faces a possible 18 months in prison if found guilty.

During the production of the Western film Rust, a live round was discharged from a revolver used by Alec Baldwin, which killed Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. Baldwin was originally charged last year, but the charges were dropped just a few months later, although they were dropped “without prejudice,” which meant that the prosecutors could still refile charges as the investigation continued. Baldwin was again charged with involuntary manslaughter earlier this year, with the actor’s lawyers saying, “We look forward to our day in court.“

During a two-hour hearing last week in which Judge Sommer said she’d consider the motion to dismiss, Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey rejected the arguments of Baldwin’s defence team. “The defense wants somehow to try to convince the court that the actor who is holding a real gun in his hand has absolutely no responsibility for what he does with that gun,” Morrissey said. “And it’s simply not the case. The reason that this death occurred is because the safety protocol was not followed.“

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer on Rust, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her part in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Her defence team filed motions for her to be released from jail and be given a new trial, but Judge Sommer denied them. She was sentenced to 18 months behind bars. “You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” Judge Sommer said to Gutierrez-Reed during her sentencing last month. “But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.“

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