Prosecutor Seeks Reinstatement of Charge Against Alec Baldwin in ‘Rust’ Case

A prosecutor has filed a request in New Mexico asking a judge to reconsider the dismissal of an involuntary manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin. This charge relates to the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey expressed that the evidence did not support the judge’s ruling made in July, which dismissed the case against Baldwin. Morrissey contended that Baldwin’s due process rights were not violated.

The case was initially dismissed partway through the trial by State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. The dismissal was prompted by the alleged failure of police and prosecutors to provide key evidence to Baldwin’s defense team in the 2021 incident that resulted in Hutchins’ death.

This dismissal was issued with prejudice, meaning that once all appeals are exhausted, the charge cannot be reinstated.

Court documents highlighted that Baldwin, serving as both lead actor and co-producer on “Rust,” was rehearsing when a gun he was handling discharged, resulting in Hutchins’ death and injuring the director, Joel Souza. Baldwin maintains that he did not pull the trigger.

The pivotal evidence in the case involved ammunition brought to the sheriff’s office in March by an individual who suggested it could relate to Hutchins’ death. Prosecutors determined this ammunition was unrelated to the case, which Baldwin’s attorneys challenged, claiming that the evidence was deliberately concealed.

In the dismissal decision, Judge Sommer pointed out significant “discovery violations” and misconduct by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony presented during the trial.

Morrissey’s request to revisit the case reaffirmed her position that the undisclosed ammunition did not hold relevance to Baldwin’s case, which significantly revolved around safety protocols in handling firearms.

The prosecutor emphasized that no one on the prosecution team intended to hide evidence from Baldwin, believing that the ammunition possessed no relevance even if similar to the live rounds found on set.

Morrissey claimed that Baldwin’s defense attorneys were aware of the rounds but opted not to examine them before the trial commenced, labeling the motions to dismiss the case as merely a tactic to mislead the court.

The lead attorney for Baldwin, Luke Nikas, has not yet provided any comments regarding Morrissey’s recent filing.

In related legal developments, movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving an 18-month sentence after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter. She was accused of neglecting established safety protocols and failing to properly identify live ammunition on set. Meanwhile, assistant director David Halls accepted a plea deal for the negligent use of a deadly weapon, resulting in six months of unsupervised probation.

The question of who introduced the live rounds that led to Hutchins’ death remains unresolved, although prosecutors have implicated Gutierrez-Reed in the situation.

The ammunition that significantly influenced the outcome of Baldwin’s case had been filed under an unrelated case number by a crime scene technician from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Three of the rounds matched live ammunition retrieved from the scene of the fatal incident.

Troy Teske of Bullhead City, Arizona, was the individual who submitted the ammunition. He had a routine arrangement for storing weapons and ammunition for his friend Thell Reed, who is also the stepfather and mentor of Gutierrez-Reed.

Morrissey has now requested the judge to compel the defense attorneys to disclose when they first learned of the ammunition supplied by Teske, referring to the arguments made by the defense as a “ruse.”

Baldwin’s attorneys assert that he was unaware of live rounds being present on the film set and that prosecutors suppressed evidence while attempting to connect Gutierrez-Reed’s handling of the ammunition to Baldwin’s actions.

Gutierrez-Reed is now seeking to overturn her involuntary manslaughter conviction based on claims of suppressed evidence unveiled during Baldwin’s trial. She has also requested a plea hearing concerning a felony firearms charge regarding an incident where she allegedly took a weapon to a bar in Santa Fe shortly before filming commenced on “Rust.”

The legal battle surrounding this tragic event continues to unfold, with significant implications for all parties directly involved.

Source: AP