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Alec Baldwin will no longer face charges in connection with the October 2021 shooting Rust cameraman Halyna Hutchins.
Special Prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey said Monday, December 23, that an appeal to reinstate charges against the actor, 66, has been dropped due to a lack of support from the New Mexico District Attorney’s office, per The New York Times And CBS News.
The prosecution’s previous case against Baldwin collapsed at trial in July, when his lawyers successfully argued that the prosecution withheld evidence that may have been related to the case.
“The state’s efforts to continue litigating the case in a fair and comprehensive manner have encountered multiple barriers that have compromised the state’s ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” Morrissey said in a news release . New York Times.
Alec Baldwin has had his fair share of scandals in the public eye over the course of his life. From two arrests to the infamous voicemail he left for his daughter Ireland Baldwin, the 30 Rock alum has often made headlines for his controversial behavior — and perhaps never more seriously than when he was involved in the fatal event. […]
“The appeal would have challenged the Court’s dismissal of the criminal charges against producer and actor Alec Baldwin, including involuntary manslaughter in the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust on October 21, 2021,” according to a statement from the New York Times. Mexico’s first judicial prosecutor said.
“The FJDA commends Morrissey for her work in prosecuting two cases of such magnitude and national attention, including the successful prosecution of Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The FJDA stands with the Hutchins’ family and their continued fight for justice in civil court,” the statement said, according to CBS News.
Halyna Hutchins
Courtesy of Halyna Hutchins/InstagramBaldwin’s lawyers Lucas Nikas And Alex Spirosaid the decision “to deny the appeal is the final vindication of what Alec Baldwin and his attorneys have said from the beginning – this was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”
Baldwin has not yet publicly commented on the decision, but shared a link to one on Monday New York Times article about it via X.
Hutchins was killed and Rust director Joel Souza was injured as a result of a prop gun containing a real bullet fired onto the set in October 2021. Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin in February 2022 and settled with the Emmy winner in October.
County Sheriff/MEGA Two documentaries are in the works about the Rust shooting involving Alec Baldwin and cameraman Halyna Hutchins. Rachel Mason, a close friend of the Hutchins family who directed the 2019 Netflix documentary Circus of Books, has been working on a film about Halyna with the help of producer Julee Metz and Halyna’s husband. […]
Baldwin, who denied pulling the trigger, was later charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in January 2023 and pleaded not guilty a month later. The criminal charges were dropped in April 2023. However, earlier this year he was charged for a second time with involuntary manslaughter and was tried in July.
The case was dismissed by the First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Summer in July. Sommer agreed with Baldwin’s attorneys that prosecutors concealed evidence possibly linked to the fatal shooting.
It’s been three years since Halyna Hutchins died on the set of the movie Rust, and star Alec Baldwin still hasn’t seen the finished project. ‘No, I haven’t seen the final version. I was sent a rough draft early on, before everything got a bit stickier and harder. So I haven’t seen the movie,” […]
“There is no way for the court to right this injustice,” Sommer told the court, according to NBC News. “The sanction of dismissal is the only justified remedy.” The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin could not be refiled, but Morrissey attempted to appeal that decision.
The gunsmith of the film, Hannah Gutierrez-Reedwas found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Her lawyers’ call for a new trial was refused in September.