Alec Baldwin is fully done with criminal litigation tied to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film Rust in October of 2021.
The district attorney’s office in Santa Fe, New Mexico announced Monday it won’t pursue an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the Oscar-nominated actor, 66.
Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the appeal of a July decision at trial to dismiss the charge against Baldwin in Hutchins’ death during a rehearsal on set for the movie Rust outside Santa Fe.
‘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,’ Baldwin’s defense attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said. ‘The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.’
Representatives for the state attorney general could not be be reached immediately.
Alec Baldwin, 66, is fully done with criminal litigation tied to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film Rust in October of 2021. Pictured in court in Santa Fe, New Mexico this past July
Baldwin portrays the role of Harland Rust in the film, which debuted last month in Poland
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.
Judge Sommer said at the time that dismissal was ‘the only warranted remedy’ amid the legal issues and that there was ‘no way for the court to right this wrong.
‘The late discovery of this evidence has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,’ the judge said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, pictured in January of 2019 in Park City, Utah, tragically died on the set of movie in October of 2021
The Oscar-nominated actor was pictured weeping after the case was dismissed in July
The tragic incident occurred on set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico
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.
Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A no contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
Several civil lawsuits have been brought against Baldwin and Rust producers, including a complaint by Hutchins’ parents and sister.
Prosecutors said Hutchins’ death has prompted industry-wide scrutiny of safety protocols, especially the use of firearms and live ammunition on set.