The gun Alec Baldwin shot was apparently damaged and perhaps even destroyed. This is not a good look for prosecutors.
shooting tragedy. On Thursday, March 9, Baldwin’s attorney claimed the gun at the center of the case had been destroyed.
“The court I don’t think is aware at this point, but I think I should tell the court that the firearm in this case — that’s a great subject of it — was destroyed by the state,” Alex Spiro told Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer matter-of-factly during the livestreamed proceeding. “That’s obviously an issue, and we’re going to have to see that firearm, or what’s left of it.
The alleged destruction of the literal smoking gun is a huge deal for both the prosecution and the defense. Prosecutors would ostensibly use an analysis of the weapon to show Baldwin had pulled the trigger, indicating negligent criminal behavior. Defense attorneys would almost certainly have their own expert or experts examine the gun and would likely argue that the official FBI analysis was questionable or false. If the gun is MIA, Baldwin’s defense can’t do that.
“The defense has the right, especially in circumstances such as this, to test the gun because the operability of the gun — or any defect in the gun — is presumably part of Mr. Baldwin’s defense,” Kousouros said. “If the gun is no longer in a condition that can be tested by the defense or a defense expert in order to ascertain whether there was any defect or whether Mr. Baldwin’s explanation for how the gun fired was plausible, I think it does affect the defense.
Kuby added that he would be astonished if the gun had been destroyed outright. The question is rather how much damage it suffered. “Is that damage serious enough to prevent a defense expert from examining the firearm? The answer is probably not. The firearm in question, it’s not that complicated a device. It’s a small number of moving pieces, and those are fairly simple.
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