Alec Baldwin filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing New Mexico prosecutors and law enforcement officials of “malicious prosecution” after a cameraman was shot and killed on the set of “Rust.”
Their manslaughter case against Mr. Baldwin in the shooting death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins came to a dramatic end during his trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in July. his charges.
“There is nothing the court can do to right this wrong,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said in dismissing the case as Baldwin wept in the courtroom.
Baldwin filed the lawsuit in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court, accusing prosecutors of “improper use of criminal procedures” that violated Baldwin’s constitutional rights. His lawyers have accused prosecutors of a series of irregularities, claiming they repeatedly failed to disclose evidence to the defense, pursued the case to further their “personal agenda or professional ambitions” and failed to pursue all investigative leads when they tried When “making” the case against Mr. Baldwin.
“Defendants must now be held accountable for their malicious and unlawful pursuit of Baldwin,” the lawsuit states. “While no verdict in this civil case will undo the trauma caused by the threat of state conviction and incarceration, Alec Baldwin has filed This lawsuit holds the defendants accountable for their egregious violations of workplace laws.”
In response to the lawsuit, Special Prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey, who oversaw the trial, said in a statement: “In October 2023, the prosecution team became aware of Mr. Baldwin’s intention to pursue retaliatory civil Litigation. We look forward to the day in court.
Other prosecutors named in the lawsuit who were pursuing the case at various stages did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors have long argued that criminal charges against Mr. Baldwin were justified, saying his reckless behavior on set led to Ms. Hutchins’ death.
“This has always been about justice for Halina Hutchins,” Ms Morrissey said in a statement last month.
On October 21, 2021, Mr. Baldwin was holding an old revolver for the camera when the shooting occurred. Mr Baldwin was told the gun was “cold”, meaning it was not supposed to contain any live ammunition. But as he practiced drawing his gun, a live round was fired, killing Ms. Hutchins and injuring the film director, Joel Souza.
Baldwin denied responsibility from the start, noting there shouldn’t have been any live ammunition on the set and claiming he didn’t pull the trigger of the antique revolver before it exploded. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer who loaded live rounds into the gun that day, was convicted of manslaughter and is serving an 18-month sentence.
Baldwin’s lawsuit, filed by his attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, raises questions about nearly every turn in the criminal case against him, including local How the prosecution team, led by prosecutor Mary Carmack-Altwies, initially handled the case.
Ms Carmack-Altwis’ team initially said Mr Baldwin would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison if found guilty of one count of manslaughter, but later downgraded that to that after Mr Baldwin’s lawyers pointed out The maximum sentence is 18 months.
The lawsuit states that Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor originally appointed to the case, said the case could help her campaign for the state Legislature. “I at least want to let everyone know that I’m helping you… because it might help my campaign, haha,” she wrote in an email to Ms. Carmack-Altwis.
Reeb said in an email that she was joking, and Baldwin withdrew from the case after her attorneys argued that she violated the New Mexico Constitution by working for two branches of state government at the same time — as a legislator and as a prosecutor.
Ms. Carmack-Altwis, Ms. Reeb and Ms. Morrissey are all named as defendants in the actor’s lawsuit, as are officials with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and the County Board of Commissioners who conducted the preliminary investigation into the shooting. . In order for the lawsuit to proceed, Mr. Baldwin’s attorneys must convince the court that the defendants are not protected by state law, which provides immunity for public officials sued for conduct committed within the scope of their employment.
Representatives from the Sheriff’s Office and Santa Fe County declined to comment.
In response to the “Rust” prosecution, Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers questioned their motives for bringing the case against him. They highlighted a 2023 NBC News report that said “special prosecutors held discussions and expressed hope that the trial would ‘humble’ Baldwin,” citing “sources familiar with the case.”
Ms Morrissey wrote in court papers in 2023 that the prosecution of Mr Baldwin was not motivated by his “impressive level of arrogance or to teach him a lesson” but rather as a result of a “comprehensive and detailed investigation”.
When Ms Morrissey reopened the case, she argued Mr Baldwin failed to follow industry safety protocols regarding firearms and that he should have checked to make sure Ms Gutierrez-Reed had loaded the revolver with dummy ammunition, which Fake ammunition is used to imitate real ammunition in gun movies. She said forensic evidence undermined Mr Baldwin’s claim that he did not pull the trigger.
“Mr. Baldwin had a duty to confirm that the gun was loaded with only inert ammunition before he pointed it at a person, pulled the trigger and pulled the trigger, and as a New Mexico firearms operator, complied with New Mexico law,” Ms. Morrissey said in the statement. written in the book.
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors, disputed this, saying firearms professionals, not actors, were responsible for checking guns on set.
Morrissey denied that the excluded evidence that hindered the trial – a shipment of ammunition delivered to local law enforcement in March – was deliberately withheld from Baldwin’s lawyers. She initially said she planned to appeal the judge’s decision to dismiss the case, but withdrew her appeal last month after the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, which oversees criminal appeals, declined to support the effort.
Mr. Baldwin’s lawsuit says he deserves monetary damages for “legal fees, lost income, severe emotional distress, mental anguish and embarrassment.”
Although Mr. Baldwin is no longer criminally charged in connection with the shooting, he still faces multiple lawsuits, including from relatives of Ms. Hutchins and members of the “Rust” cast.
