Southwest
Alec Baldwin wants speedy trial in 'Rust' shooting death: What to know
Alec Baldwin’s lawyers are likely pushing for a speedy trial because the prosecution has a “weak” case, according to legal experts.
Baldwin was charged for a second time with involuntary manslaughter Jan. 19 in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins. The cinematographer died Oct. 21, 2021, after a gun Baldwin was holding discharged on the set of the Western film “Rust.”
By Jan. 24, lawyers for Baldwin had demanded a speedy trial for the 65-year-old actor.
“Mr. Baldwin is entitled to a fair and speedy disposition of the charges to minimize public vilification and suspicion and to avoid the hazards of proving his innocence that often arise after lengthy delays in a prosecution,” documents, obtained by Fox News Digital, state.
ALEC BALDWIN FACES NEW INDICTMENT IN ‘RUST’ MOVIE SET SHOOTING
“When defense attorneys think the prosecution doesn’t have a good case, they insist on a speedy trial to basically jam them up and force them to push the case to trial,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani explained to Fox News Digital.
Alec Baldwin’s request for a speedy trial puts pressure on the prosecution, a legal expert told Fox News Digital. (Fox News)
“If they have a bad case as a prosecutor, then the defense will say, ‘All right, let’s go to trial,’ because they know [the prosecution is] not going to have [the] witnesses and evidence ready,” he added. “That’s probably the case here. This is a weak case for the prosecution.
“This is what [the prosecution] did the first time around, and it was clear [they were] not ready to go to a preliminary hearing, and that’s why they dismissed the case in April.”
“Rust” assistant director Dave Halls pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in March. (Instagram | AP Photo/Jae C. Hong | IMDB)
For Rahmani, the “Rust” assistant director’s lack of punishment and Hutchins’ widower settling a civil lawsuit against Baldwin make the prosecution’s case “weak.”
In March 2023, Dave Halls was given a no-time misdemeanor after pleading guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon. Rahmani noted Halls is “arguably as culpable, if not more culpable, than Baldwin” in Hutchins’ death because the assistant director “represented that it was a cold gun, and he clearly didn’t check it.”
ALEC BALDWIN FACING NEW INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES IN FATAL ‘RUST’ SHOOTING: WHAT’S DIFFERENT THIS TIME
Alec Baldwin was charged with new counts of involuntary manslaughter Jan. 19. (Mark Sagliocco)
The demand for a speedy trial also puts pressure on the prosecution.
“Baldwin’s assertion of his right to a speedy trial puts pressure on the prosecution to prepare their case against Baldwin quickly,” Kate Mangels, partner at Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP, told Fox News Digital. “This could put additional pressure on their resources, particularly because the trial of the armorer is scheduled to go forward in February.”
Celebrity defense attorney Duncan Levin, who previously worked on Harvey Weinstein’s team, explained that Baldwin’s lawyers are likely trying to “seize upon the current public perception that this case is being brought unfairly against him.
“The sentiment is that the case is meritless and should be dismissed. The passage of more time could affect that, and this puts more immediate pressure on the prosecution to get ready for trial more quickly than they might like.”
However, a speedy trial may not be a benefit for Baldwin, criminal defense attorney Robert J. Degroot told Fox News Digital.
“A speedy trial may not be in Mr. Baldwin’s best interests,” Degroot said. “There is currently a trial scheduled for another defendant who was the ‘armorer’ on the location. What explanation she may have for the presence of live rounds, creating a ‘hot gun’ situation, would have an immediate impact and collateral effect on Mr. Baldwin’s case.
“Having that trial and seeing what implications the evidence would have on Mr. Baldwin’s position, both factually and legally, is of tantamount importance. Mr. Baldwin’s team would have a free preview of the state’s case and could then plan accordingly.”
WATCH: PROSECUTORS ARE ‘SALIVATING’ TO CROSS-EXAMINE ALEC BALDWIN: ATTORNEY
ALEC BALDWIN FIRES PROP GUN, TELLS ‘RUST’ CREW ‘I DON’T WANT TO SHOOT TOWARD YOU’ IN NEWLY RELEASED VIDEO
“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s involuntary manslaughter trial is scheduled to begin in February. Baldwin has not been included on any witness list the prosecution has submitted at this point.
Degroot noted Baldwin’s case “has lost its immediacy and reasonable attempts to analyze the evidence and have experts test the gun are much more important than a speedy trial for Mr. Baldwin.
“I don’t think a speedy trial benefits anyone at this point,” he explained. “The dust will settle significantly with the verdict in the first trial. There are also questions about the main piece of physical evidence, the firearm, which has been given to the FBI and may be altered from its original state by the replacement of certain parts and components. It may be impossible to test the gun forensically in the condition it was in at the time of the tragic shooting.”
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Baldwin was originally charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter Jan. 31, 2023, and the charges were later dropped in April.
At the time, the prosecution claimed “new facts” had been revealed that require further investigation. In their motion to dismiss, the special prosecutors noted the inquiry and forensic analysis required could not be completed before the start of Baldwin’s scheduled preliminary hearing.
WATCH: ALEC BALDWIN INDICTED ON TWO COUNTS OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER FROM ‘RUST’ SET
Baldwin has maintained he did not pull the trigger of the gun Oct. 21, 2021.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin told George Stephanopoulos in an interview shortly after the fatal shooting.
“No, no, no, no, I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger. Never.”
However, the FBI conducted an accidental-discharge test and determined the gun used in the fatal shooting of Hutchins “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger,” ABC News reported.
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Southwest
Uvalde trial halted after key witness changes testimony
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The trial of a former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer accused of not doing more to save lives in the 2022 shooting that left 21 dead was halted after a key witness reportedly changed her testimony.
Adrian Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment following the attack at Robb Elementary. He could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if he’s convicted, prosecutors said.
Former teacher Stephanie Hale testified on Tuesday that she saw the shooter on the south side of the campus, the same area where Gonzales was located, according to Texas Public Radio.
However, defense attorneys objected, arguing her testimony was different compared to statements Hale made to a Texas Ranger during a 2022 investigation when she placed the shooter closer to Gonzales than previously indicated, the outlet added.
TRIAL UNDERWAY FOR FORMER UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF SLOW RESPONSE TO SHOOTING
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales leaves the courtroom during a break at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
The jury in the trial was then dismissed until Thursday as attorneys are preparing arguments on motions related to Hale’s testimony, the report said. The judge in the case is expected to hear those arguments on Wednesday, and the defense has raised the possibility of a mistrial, Texas Public Radio also reported.
Gonzales, who was among the first to respond to the attack, arrived while the teenage assailant was still outside the building. The officer allegedly did not make a move, even when a teacher pointed out the direction of the shooter, special prosecutor Bill Turner said Tuesday during opening statements in the trial.
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales, right, and his attorney Nico LaHood, left, arrive in the courtroom at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
The officer only went inside Robb Elementary minutes later “after the damage had been done,” Turner said.
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“When you hear gunshots, you go to the gunfire,” Turner added, noting that Gonzales, a 10-year veteran of the police force, had extensive active shooter training.
Attorney Nico LaHood makes opening arguments during a trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
An indictment accused Gonzales of putting children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his training. The allegations also said he did not go toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told the shooter’s location.
Gonzales’ attorneys disputed accusations that he did nothing at what they called a chaotic scene, saying that he helped evacuate children as other police arrived.
Adrian Gonzales, a former police officer for schools in Uvalde, Texas. At right is a memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults killed on May 24, 2022, during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. (Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office/AP/Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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“The government makes it want to seem like he just sat there,” defense attorney Nico LaHood said on Tuesday. “He did what he could, with what he knew at the time.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Trump endorses Cuellar opponent after pardoning Dem rep
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Tano Tijerina in Texas’ 28th Congressional District race after criticizing Rep. Henry Cuellar for running again as a Democrat following a presidential pardon.
“I don’t know why, but the fact that Henry Cuellar would be running against Donald J. Trump, and the Republican Party, seems to be a great act of disloyalty and, perhaps more importantly, the act of a fool who would immediately go back to a Political Party, the Radical Left Democrats, whose views are different from his, but not nearly good or strong enough to be a true Republican,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in part.
The president said if he had to do it again, he would still pardon Cuellar, arguing the prosecution against him was politically motivated, but criticized his decision to run for re-election.
“Henry should not be allowed to serve in Congress again,” Trump added before endorsing Tijerina, a judge in Webb County, Texas, who switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
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Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina poses for a portrait in his office on February 20, 2025, in Laredo, Texas. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Tano’s views are stronger, better, and far less tainted than Henry’s, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Representative from Texas’ 28th Congressional District — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” said Trump.
The commander in chief pardoned Cuellar in December after he was indicted by the Justice Department in May 2024 on charges alleging he accepted roughly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani state-owned oil and gas company and a Mexican bank in exchange for using his office to influence U.S. foreign policy.
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Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, was accused of taking more than half a million dollars in bribes from an Azerbaijan-owned energy company and a Mexican bank. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, were facing multiple counts, including bribery, money laundering and unlawful foreign influence.
After Trump granted him clemency, the congressman thanked the president for what he called his “tremendous leadership,” and said the decision allowed South Texas to move forward.
President Donald Trump announced his pardon of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas on Truth Social in December. (Nathan Howard/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on,” Cuellar wrote on X.
Cuellar won re-election in November 2024 and has been in Congress since 2005.
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Southwest
Family of Brianna Aguilera sues over alcohol service ahead of death
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The family of Brianna Aguilera, the Texas A&M student who fell to her death from a high-rise apartment in November, is suing two organizations for allegedly overserving alcohol ahead of the 19-year-old’s death.
Attorney Tony Buzbee on Tuesday announced a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Travis County against the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Economics and Business Association.
“It is illegal to serve minors any amount of alcohol in the State of Texas. It is reckless and irresponsible to grossly over-serve a group of minors at a University of Texas football tailgate to the point where those minors lose their physical faculties and ability to control themselves,” the lawsuit states.
Aguilera died when she fell from an Austin high-rise apartment following a Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football tailgate at around 1 a.m. Nov. 29, according to police.
POLICE SHOULD BE TAKING ‘CLOSER LOOK’ AT COLLEGE STUDENT’S DEATH AFTER MOTHER’S ALLEGATIONS: FORMER PROSECUTOR
An image provided by the family of the young Texas A&M student, Brianna Aguilera, found dead in Austin over the weekend. (GoFundMe)
A police investigation later determined Aguilera died by suicide despite her family’s claims that she was killed.
Brianna Aguilera was found dead in an apartment hours after attending a tailgate party. (Facebook/Brie Aguilera)
According to the filing, the alleged “egregious over-serving of minors” led to Aguilera’s death. Witnesses described her behavior over several hours as “shifting from upbeat to disoriented and ultimately grossly intoxicated,” the suit says.
Brianna Aguilera holds a sign congratulating her on her acceptance to Texas A&M. (Instagram/brie.aguilera)
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Buzbee said the lawsuit is also intended to support the ongoing investigation into the events of that night by allowing the firm to seek phone and text records, documents and data and to compel witness testimony.
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The lawsuit requests a jury trial.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
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