Prosecutors in the US state of New Mexico have denied claims made by Alec Baldwin's lawyers that state authorities destroyed the firearm that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust.
Alex Spiro, a lawyer for the 64-year-old actor said:"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.Prosecutors did not respond during Thursday's hearing, but in a statement to Sky News, Heather Brewer, spokesperson for New Mexico's First Judicial District Attorney's office, said Mr Spiro's claim is false.
She said:"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 defence to review. "The defence's unexpected statement in the status hearing today that the gun had been destroyed by the state may be a reference to a statement in the FBI's July 2022 firearms testing report that said damage was done to internal components of the gun during the FBI's functionality testing.