Rust shooting case: Alec Baldwin accused of leaking footage to influence the press and grand jury

Alec Baldwin has been accused of leaking footage from the shooting of the film Rust to the media in an attempt to receive a favourable outcome in his November grand jury hearing on the death of a cinematographer on set when the gun he was holding went off.

According to court documents, a video was made available to NBC News a night before the grand jury was set to convene.

In the video, the actor can be heard telling crew members to move out of the path of the gun in the footage.

The video was reportedly captured moments before Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer, was fatally shot on October 21, 2021.

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New Mexico special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis have now claimed that Badlwin may have "released the cherry-picked videos to NBC News to generate sympathy for the target. "

The video, they allege, was released through a third party.

"The videos were released to the national press on the eve of the grand jury proceeding in an effort to taint the grand jurors and the grand jury process," the documents state.

"Counsel for the state is concerned that any recordings of hearings related to the grand jury proceedings will be used to continue to taint the grand jury process by the target and/or his counsel."

Alec Baldwin seeks dismissal of jury indictment in the fatal Rust shooting case

In the video footage, Baldwin could be heard saying, "Now, wait a second. I'm going to shoot right? Do you mind going to the other side of the camera? I don't want to shoot toward you."

At another point, Baldwin appeared concerned for the safety of whoever is behind the camera, saying, "I don't know why you're going up hills and all this other — you're going to break your f---ing neck."

Baldwin is the producer of the film Rust and also stars in it.

Morrisey and Lewis also alleged that the "same reporter" who broke the video footage story on NBC News had previously worked for CNN and interviewed Baldwin and his attorney for the channel in August 2022, "giving him a platform to publicly present his defence that he did not pull the trigger when the gun went off killing Halyna Hutchins and injuring Joel Souza on October 21, 2021."

(With inputs from agencies)