‘Rust’ shooting trial: Alec Baldwin arrives at pretrial hearing [Video]

WASHINGTON — A New Mexico judge decided Monday that actor Alec Baldwin ‘s role as co-producer isn’t relevant to the involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the Western film “Rust.”

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that evidence won’t be allowed at trial about Baldwin’s secondary role on the movie, siding with defense attorneys.

“I’m having real difficulty with the state’s position that they want to show that as a producer he didn’t follow guidelines and therefore as an actor Mr. Baldwin did all of these things wrong that resulted in the death of Ms. Hutchins because as a producer he allowed these things to happen,” Marlowe Sommer said. “I’m denying evidence of his status as a producer.”

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson argued unsuccessfully to allow evidence that Baldwin’s “role as a producer made him …