New Mexico prosecutors will not appeal a court’s decision dismissing involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cameraman on the set of a Western film, the Santa Fe district attorney’s office said Monday .
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew an appeal of a July court decision dismissing charges against Baldwin in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film’s set rust outside Santa Fe in October 2021.
“Today’s decision to dismiss the appeal is the final confirmation of what Alec Baldwin and his attorneys have said from the beginning – this was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” said defense attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro . “The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”
Representatives for the attorney general could not immediately be reached for comment.
The decision to drop the appeal reinforces Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s decision midway through the Baldwin trial, who dismissed the case alleging that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.
Baldwin’s trial was upended by revelations that ammunition had been brought to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March by a man who claimed it might be linked to Hutchins’ killing.
Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition irrelevant and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers said investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.
The prosecutor’s office said that under state law, the New Mexico attorney general would have pursued the appeal but “did not intend to pursue the appeal exhaustively on behalf of the prosecution.”
“As a result, the State’s efforts to continue to litigate the case in a fair and comprehensive manner encountered numerous obstacles that compromised its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” local prosecutors said.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin in New Mexico. His defense attorneys accused Santa Fe law enforcement of hiding evidence of the source of the live ammunition that killed camerawoman Halyna Hutchins in 2021 by failing to list the cartridges in the Rust investigation file or inform defense attorneys about theirs to inform existence.
Baldwin faces several lawsuits
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of rustHe was pointing a gun at Hutchins during an on-set rehearsal when the revolver exploded, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer – but not the trigger – and fired the revolver.
In April, a judge sentenced film gun supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to a maximum of one and a half years in state prison for involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death.
Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of unintentionally bringing live ammunition to the shooting scene rustwhere it was expressly prohibited and for failure to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Assistant Director and Safety Coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A no-contest plea does not constitute an admission of guilt, but will be treated as such when sentencing.
Several civil lawsuits have been filed against Baldwin rust producers, including a complaint from Hutchins’ parents and sister.
Prosecutors said Hutchins’ death prompted an industry-wide review of safety protocols, particularly the use of firearms and live ammunition on set.
