After several years of investigations and legal battles, Alec Baldwin is set to go on trial next month for the involuntary manslaughter of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has ruled. With Baldwin set to face a New Mexico jury for his role in the tragic death of Hutchins, it appears the legal story that has dominated Hollywood news since 2021 will finally conclude.

In the most recent update on the case, Sommer ruled against Baldwin’s primary defense team, which consists of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, rejecting Nikas’s and Spiro’s argument for dismissal on the grounds that “the law is clear: the government may not knowingly deprive the defense of potentially useful evidence by destroying it.”

Judge Sommer saw things differently, stating that “Ultimately …the Court finds and concludes that Defendant fails to establish that the State acted in bad faith when destroying certain internal components of the firearm in the course of the accidental discharge testing,” as well as announcing that Baldwin’s New Mexico trial will be held on July 9.

Throughout the case, Baldwin has maintained his innocence, with his main claim being that while the Colt .45 that killed Hutchins was in his hand, the gun firing was a result of the gun malfunctioning and that he did not pull the trigger. However, in one of the most baffling aspects of the investigation thus far, the Colt .45 that killed Hutchins was all but destroyed in the investigative testing process after the shooting. With the case, which Judge Sommers projects to take two weeks, starting July 9, audiences can expect some definitive answers to one of the most tragic and strange legal battles Hollywood has seen in years.