SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO - JULY 8: Alec Baldwin listens to testimony during a pretrial hearing at the First Judicial District Courthouse on July 8, 2024 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin is facing a single charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust". (Photo by Ross D. Franklin - Pool/Getty Images)
Actor Alec Baldwin intends to file lawsuits against a New Mexico prosecutor and sheriff following the dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charges against him in the fatal shooting on the set of the film Rust.
The charges, stemming from the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, were dropped last week after a judge determined that prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza had withheld crucial evidence from Baldwin’s defense team.
The evidence involved a live round brought to the sheriff’s office in March, more than two years after the incident. Investigators reportedly deemed it unrelated and did not disclose its existence to Baldwin’s lawyers.
Baldwin’s legal team sent Monday letters to Morrissey and Mendoza requesting the preservation of documents for potential future litigation. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed receipt of the letter but declined further comment. Morrissey has not yet commented.
The fatal shooting occurred when Baldwin while setting up a camera shot, pointed a prop gun at Hutchins. The weapon discharged a live round mistakenly loaded by the film’s chief weapons handler, Hannah Gutierrez.
Gutierrez, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence, has filed a motion to dismiss her charges. Her legal team cites the prosecution’s failure to disclose evidence related to the live rounds, testing of Baldwin’s gun and an interview with the movie’s props supplier.
The case took another turn when Erlinda Johnson, Morrissey’s assistant prosecutor, resigned on Friday, shortly before the charges against Baldwin were dismissed. Johnson said that she had provided unredacted documents to the defense team after they contacted her seeking information that Morrissey had not supplied.
Johnson stated that she supported the case’s dismissal but clarified that she did not provide details about the live rounds to Baldwin’s team and only learned of that evidence when it was revealed in court testimony.
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