A judge in New Mexico will decide on Friday whether Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the person in charge of weapons on a movie set, must testify at actor Alec Baldwin’s trial.
Baldwin is accused of involuntary manslaughter for accidentally shooting and killing a cinematographer named Halyna Hutchins during the filming of a movie called “Rust” almost three years ago.
Prosecutors want Gutierrez-Reed to testify with protection from being charged for what she says. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March for her part in the shooting. Baldwin was an important figure in her trial, which focused on gun safety rules and his role as both an actor and producer of the movie.
Both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed don’t want her to testify. Her lawyers say that forcing her to speak might hurt her chances of a fair appeal or new trial. She’s also facing another charge for bringing a gun into a bar.
The judge will also look at two requests from Baldwin’s lawyers to cancel the trial. They argue that Baldwin had no reason to think the gun had real bullets and that the FBI damaged the gun during testing before it could be checked for changes that might prove Baldwin innocent.
During the rehearsal when the shooting happened, Baldwin was pointing the gun at Hutchins when it fired, killing her and injuring the director. Baldwin says he pulled back the gun’s hammer but didn’t pull the trigger.
Prosecutors plan to show evidence that the gun couldn’t have fired without the trigger being pulled and that it was working correctly before the shooting.
Baldwin has said he’s not guilty. If convicted, he could face up to 18 months in prison.
The judge has already refused one request to dismiss the case. Prosecutors had dropped charges against Baldwin last year but brought new ones after getting new information about the gun.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.