Judge decides Alec Baldwin’s role as co-producer not relevant to trial over Rust shooting

Alec Baldwin’s role as a producer of the Western film Rust is not relevant to the involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on set, a New Mexico judge decided on Monday.

The move is a major setback for prosecutors just as the trial was about to begin. They had planned to present evidence that showed how Baldwin bore a special responsibility – as co-producer, well beyond that of the actor holding the gun – for the dangerous environment that led to the deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal.

“I’m having real difficulty with the state’s position that they want to show that as a producer he didn’t follow guidelines and therefore as an actor Mr Baldwin did all of these things wrong that resulted in the death of Ms Hutchins because as a producer he allowed these things to happen,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said. “I’m denying evidence of his status as a producer.”

Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson argued unsuccessfully that Baldwin was “keenly aware” of his safety obligations as a producer, in an attempt to bolster an alternative theory of guilt beyond negligent use of a firearm.

The prosecution has tried to link Baldwin’s behaviour on set to “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others”.