(24 Dec 2024)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Santa Fe, New Mexico – 12 July 2024
1. Alec Baldwin arrives at court
POOL
Santa Fe, New Mexico – 12 July 2024
2. UPSOUND Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismisses involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, Baldwin holds head in hand, cries, embraces attorneys
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles – 17 September 2017
3. Medium, zoom out on Alec and Hilaria Baldwin arriving at the Emmys
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York – 21 November 2019
4. Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria Baldwin pose for photographers at the American Museum of Natural History gala
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Burbank, Calif. – 24 October 2021
++NIGHT SHOTS++
5. Various of candlelight memorial in honor of Halyna Hutchins
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Santa Fe, New Mexico – 22 October 2021
6. Wide view of vehicle at gate leading on to ranch property
7. Medium view of Bonanza Creek Ranch sign
8. Wide view pan of movie set area on property
STORYLINE:
New Mexico prosecutors won’t pursue an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting on 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 defense attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro. “The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”
Representatives for the state attorney general could not be be reached immediately.
The decision to drop the appeal solidifies the decision by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer halfway through trial to dismiss the case on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.
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 onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
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