One day after the special prosecutors dropped an involuntary manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, lawyers for both the state and the film’s weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, met to discuss the next steps in the case.
Both legal teams cited the need for more time to gather evidence through investigations and Special Prosecutor Kari Morriessey said the state is also looking into getting subpoenas for several witnesses prior to the preliminary hearing.
“We’re on the same page in terms of wanting to get as much time prior to a preliminary hearing as we can to complete the rest of the investigation on all of these important issues that have surfaced just within the last few days.”
Originally scheduled for the end of July, both legal parties and the judge agreed to a new date of August 9th-14th.
Morriessey also said she didn’t believe the court would need a two week time-frame for the hearing given the recent development surrounding the dropped charges.
In the motion filed in a Santa Fe courtroom, Morrissey and fellow special prosecutor Jason Lewis dismissed the charges against Baldwin “without prejudice”, which does mean that can refile charges against the actor if new evidence is gathered through further investigation.