Alec Baldwin fatal shooting: Prosecutors withdraw appeal of dismissed case
New Mexico Prosecutors Drop Appeal in Alec Baldwin Case
The Santa Fe district attorney’s office announced on Monday that they will not pursue an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of a Western movie.
Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the appeal of a July decision at trial to dismiss the charge against Baldwin, which was made by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. The judge dismissed the case halfway through the trial due to allegations that police and prosecutors had withheld evidence from the defense.
The trial was thrown into disarray when it was revealed that ammunition related to the shooting had been brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March. Prosecutors downplayed the significance of the ammunition, while Baldwin’s lawyers argued that investigators had hidden the evidence in a separate case file. This led to a successful motion to dismiss the case.
The district attorney’s office stated that the New Mexico attorney general could have continued the appeal, but they were not willing to exhaustively pursue it on behalf of the prosecution. This decision has hindered the state’s ability to prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law.
