September 4th 2024.
A recent court filing has revealed that a prosecutor in New Mexico is asking a judge to reconsider the decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin in the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust." Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argues that the ruling was based on insufficient evidence and that Baldwin's rights to due process were not violated.
The case, which was dismissed midway through the trial, was thrown out by State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer due to the withholding of crucial evidence by law enforcement and prosecutors. This evidence was related to the 2021 shooting and was not disclosed to the defense team. The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back even if the decision is appealed.
Baldwin, who was both the lead actor and co-producer of "Rust," was rehearsing a scene where he was supposed to point a gun at Hutchins when the gun went off, fatally shooting her and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin maintains that he only pulled back the hammer, not the trigger, and that the gun accidentally discharged.
The key evidence that ultimately led to the dismissal of the case was ammunition that was brought to the sheriff's office in March by a man who suspected it was related to the shooting. Prosecutors deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, but Baldwin's lawyers argued that it was intentionally withheld and successfully motioned to dismiss the case.
Judge Marlowe Sommer described the handling of this evidence as "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence during the trial. In the request to reconsider, Morrissey maintains that the undisclosed ammunition was not relevant to the case and that the defense team was aware of it but chose not to view it prior to the trial.
Baldwin's lead attorney, Luke Nikas, has not yet responded to requests for comment on Morrissey's filing. Meanwhile, the film's armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is currently serving an 18-month sentence for involuntary manslaughter, while assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls received six months of unsupervised probation for the negligent use of a deadly weapon.
It is still unknown who brought the live rounds to the set that killed Hutchins, but prosecutors allege that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible. The ammunition that ultimately led to the case being dismissed was brought to the sheriff's office by Troy Teske, who routinely stored weapons and ammunition for his friend and mentor, Thell Reed, an experienced movie-gun coach and Gutierrez-Reed's stepfather.
Morrissey is now requesting that the judge order the defense team to reveal when and how they learned of the ammunition provided by Teske, calling their motion to dismiss the case a "ruse." Baldwin's attorneys have maintained that he was unaware of any live ammunition on set and that prosecutors were trying to establish a link between the live ammo and Gutierrez-Reed in order to strengthen their argument that Baldwin should have recognized her inexperience.
Gutierrez-Reed is now seeking to have her conviction overturned based on the allegations of suppressed evidence that arose during Baldwin's trial. In addition, she has requested a plea hearing for a felony firearms charge related to accusations that she brought a gun into a Santa Fe bar weeks before filming began for "Rust." Her defense attorney, Jason Bowles, did not respond to requests for further information.
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