The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: Elderberry on March 11, 2023, 02:22:24 am
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CNBC by Rebecca Picciotto 3/9/2023
Prosecutors deny claim by Alec Baldwin’s lawyers that authorities destroyed gun in ‘Rust’ movie set shooting
Key Points
• Alec Baldwin’s lawyers said that New Mexico authorities destroyed the firearm at the center of the “Rust” movie criminal case.
• Prosecutors disputed the claim, saying in a statement to CNBC that the gun is in evidence and “available for the defense to review.”
• Baldwin, charged with two counts of manslaughter, was holding the firearm that killed a “Rust” crew member but has denied he pulled the trigger.
New Mexico prosecutors denied the claim that Alec Baldwin’s lawyers made on Thursday that state authorities had destroyed the firearm that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust.”
“The court, I don’t think is aware of this point, but I think I should tell the court that the firearm in this case ... was destroyed by the state,” Alex Spiro, one of Baldwin’s lawyers, said during a hearing Thursday. “That’s obviously an issue and we’re going to need to see that firearm, or what’s left of it.”
Prosecutors didn’t respond to Spiro’s assertion during the hearing, but in a statement to CNBC said that Spiro’s claim is false.
“The gun Alec Baldwin used in the shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins has not been destroyed by the state. The gun is in evidence and is available for the defense to review,” said Heather Brewer, spokesperson for New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney’s office.
A hearing on the disqualification motion will is scheduled for March 27.
More: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/09/alec-baldwin-rust-gun-destroyed.html (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/09/alec-baldwin-rust-gun-destroyed.html)
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:bkmk:
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WHY would ANY prosecutor destroy his or her prime evidence before a trial even begins?
I have been led to believe that prosecutors/police departments,keep evidence used during convictions for decades in case there are appeals from the convicted. Is this wrong?