New Mexico prosecutors have dropped their appeal to reinstate charges against Alec Baldwin in connection with the fatal shooting on the set of his movie “Rust.”
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the state’s appeal, originally filed in November, on Monday, according to a statement from the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
“The appeal would have challenged the Court’s dismissal of criminal charges against Producer and Actor, Alec Baldwin which included involuntary manslaughter in the tragic shooting of Cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust on October 21, 2021,” the statement said.
“The FJDA commends Morrissey for her work in prosecuting two cases of such magnitude and national attention, including the successful prosecution against Hannah Gutierrez Reed,” the district attorney’s office said. “The FJDA supports the Hutchins’ family and their continued fight for justice in civil court.”
Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, attorney’s representing Baldwin, told CBS News in a statement, “Today’s decision to dismiss 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.”
The decision to drop the appeal solidifies the decision by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer halfway through trial to dismiss the case on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.
Baldwin’s trial was upended by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammo unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers say investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate case file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.
The district attorney’s office said the New Mexico attorney general would have carried forward the appeal but “did not intend to exhaustively pursue the appeal on behalf of the prosecution.”
“As a result, the State’s efforts to continue to litigate the case in a fair and comprehensive manner have been met with multiple barriers that have compromised its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” the statement from local prosecutors stated.
The shooting occurred during a rehearsal on the set of the Western film “Rust,” in which Baldwin stars and also served as a producer. Baldwin was holding a prop gun that had been loaded with a live round when it discharged, killing Hutchens and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has maintained he never pulled the gun’s trigger and did not know it was loaded with a live round, which is prohibited by both industry and union guidelines.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was accused of loading the gun, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March. She appealed her conviction after the charges against Baldwin were dismissed, but it was upheld by a judge in September.
Prosecutors had also accused Gutierrez-Reed of bringing the live rounds onto the set, but defense lawyers argued the film’s ammunition supplier was not properly investigated. Guttierez-Reed maintained she did not know how the gun was loaded with live rounds. She was acquitted of evidence tampering in her trial.
David Halls, the film’s safety coordinator, pleaded no contest last year to negligent use of a firearm. He completed six months of unsupervised parole.