Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Alec Baldwin sues New Mexico prosecutors over dismissed ‘Rust’ case

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO – JULY 12: Alec Baldwin hugs a member of his legal team at the conclusion of his trial for involuntary manslaughter in First Judicial District Court on July 12, 2024 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The trial for involuntary manslaughter was dismissed by a judge Friday after she ruled that key evidence over a fatal shooting on the set of “Rust” had been withheld from the defense. (Photo by Ramsay de Give-Pool/Getty Images)  (Pool)
By Samantha Chery Washington Post

Alec Baldwin is suing New Mexico prosecutors and other authorities involved in his now-dismissed “Rust” shooting case, accusing the group of violating his rights and defaming him through their mishandling of the investigation.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a state district court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, stems from a shooting incident that occurred on the set of the low-budget western movie “Rust” in 2021. Baldwin had been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a prop gun he was rehearsing with discharged a live bullet, killing the movie’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounding its director, Joel Souza.

A judge threw out the case in July after finding that prosecutors intentionally withheld information from the defense team.

“Criminal prosecutions are to be guided by the search for truth and justice, not to pursue personal or political gain or harass the innocent,” Baldwin’s lawsuit stated. “For the better part of the last three years, however, Defendants repudiated these obligations, blinded by their desire to convict Alec Baldwin for all the wrong reasons, and at any cost.”

Named defendants in the lawsuit include the case’s special prosecutor, Kari T. Morrissey, as well as two prosecutors who left the case before its conclusion: District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who first brought the charges against Baldwin; and former district attorney Andrea Reeb, who resigned from the case after Baldwin’s lawyers called her participation unconstitutional as she served as a state representative. Members of the county’s sheriff’s office and the board of county commissioners were also named defendants.

The district attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sheriff’s office declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Baldwin alleges that their missteps, such as damaging the set’s firearm during testing and failing to immediately secure props following the shooting, were “driven by ill motives and to accomplish illegitimate ends, including to harass or ‘humble’ Baldwin, to promote their political agendas … or to further their own personal agendas or professional ambitions.”

The abrupt dismissal of Baldwin’s case, which the judge ruled could not be retried, marked the end to an investigation marred by errors. The actor was initially charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2023. However, Baldwin’s charges were later downgraded because they included a firearm enhancement law that was passed months after the shooting. Prosecutors then dropped his charges in April 2023, before he was charged once again in January 2024. Following the trial, Morrissey filed – but later withdrew – an appeal to the decision in December.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after she was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.