Prosecutors withdraw appeal of dismissed case against Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting on movie set

In a recent announcement, the Santa Fe district attorney’s office revealed that they will not be pursuing an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin in the tragic shooting incident on the set of the movie “Rust”. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey made the decision to withdraw the appeal following a July ruling that dismissed the charge against Baldwin in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on set outside Santa Fe in October 2021.

Baldwin’s defense lawyers, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, expressed their relief at the decision, stating that it was a vindication of Baldwin’s innocence. They reiterated that Baldwin committed no crime and emphasized that the rule of law has been upheld throughout the legal proceedings in New Mexico.

The decision to drop the appeal solidifies the ruling made by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who dismissed the case midway through Baldwin’s trial due to allegations of evidence withholding by police and prosecutors. The trial was thrown into disarray when it was revealed that ammunition related to the shooting had been brought to the sheriff’s office months prior, but was deemed unrelated and unimportant by prosecutors.

The district attorney’s office noted that under state law, the New Mexico attorney general would have been responsible for continuing the appeal, but they did not intend to pursue it further. This decision was made due to multiple barriers that compromised the prosecution’s ability to fully litigate the case.

Baldwin, who was both the lead actor and co-producer of “Rust”, was involved in the fatal shooting incident while rehearsing a scene with a gun. The revolver went off, resulting in the tragic death of Hutchins and injuries to director Joel Souza. Baldwin maintained that he did not pull the trigger, but rather the gun fired when he pulled back the hammer.

Following the incident, movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to one and a half years in a state penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter in connection with Hutchins’s death. Additionally, assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months of unsupervised probation.

Several civil lawsuits have been filed against Baldwin and the producers of “Rust”, including a complaint from Hutchins’s family. The tragedy has sparked industry-wide discussions about safety protocols on film sets, particularly regarding the use of firearms and live ammunition.

Overall, the decision to not pursue an appeal in Baldwin’s case marks the end of a tumultuous legal battle that has shed light on the complexities of on-set safety and responsibility in the film industry.