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New Mexico prosecutors will not pursue an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a western movie, the Santa Fe district attorney’s office announced Monday.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the appeal of a July decision at trial to dismiss the charge against Baldwin in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on set for the movie Rust outside Santa Fe in October 2021.
“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,” said defence attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro. “The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”
Representatives for the state attorney general could not be reached immediately.
The decision to drop the appeal solidifies the decision by judge Mary Marlowe Sommer halfway through the trial to dismiss the case on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defence.
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 that under state law 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,” local prosecutors said.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for Rust, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on set when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer – but not the trigger – and the revolver fired.
In April, a judge sentenced movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum of one and a half years at a state penitentiary on an involuntary manslaughter conviction in Hutchins’ death.
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition on to the set of Rust, where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.
Several civil lawsuits have been brought against Baldwin and Rust producers, including a complaint by Hutchins’ parents and sister. Prosecutors said Hutchins’ death has prompted industry-wide scrutiny of safety protocols, especially the use of firearms and live ammunition on set.
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