Judge confirms dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in on-set shooting

SANTA FE, NM – A New Mexico judge has upheld her decision to dismiss involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin in connection with the fatal shooting of a cameraman on the set of a Western film.

In a ruling Thursday, state District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer stood by her July decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin. She said prosecutors have not presented any factual or legal arguments that would justify overturning her decision.

“Because the State’s amended motion raises arguments that were previously raised, and arguments that the State chose not to raise earlier, the court finds that the amended motion is moot,” the judge wrote, adding that it request also came too late.

A spokesperson for Baldwin’s attorneys said Friday they had no immediate comment on the decision.

Special counsel Kari Morrissey told The Associated Press that she disagrees with the court’s analysis and will appeal the ruling. Morrissey was appointed by the Santa Fe District Attorney to take over the case in March 2023, after a previous special prosecutor resigned following missteps in filing the initial charges.

The case was dismissed mid-trial over allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense in the 2021 death. cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film ‘Rust’.

Baldwin’s trial was marred by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be linked to Hutchins’ killing. Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s attorneys say investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.

Baldwin, the star and co-producer of “Rust,” was points a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal for a film set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 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.

A judge sentenced in April film weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed up to 1.5 years in a state prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction in Hutchins’ death.

Marlowe Sommer last month rejected Gutierrez-Reed’s request to dismiss her conviction or call a new trial based on allegations that prosecutors failed to share evidence that could be exculpatory. She found that the gunsmith’s attorneys had not established that there was a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the trial would have been different if the evidence had been available to Gutierrez-Reed, who still has an appeal pending in higher court.

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Associated Press reporter Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed to this report.