Alec Baldwin Off The Hook, New Mexico Prosecutor Drops Manslaughter Case Appeal

A criminal case against actor Alec Baldwin related to the fatal shooting on the set of his movie “Rust” ended Monday when a prosecutor dropped her appeal of the case’s dismissal.

Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the appeal, per Reuters, effectively ending the criminal proceedings that have been ongoing since the incident occurred in 2021 in New Mexico.

The decision was made after the state attorney general’s office said that it “did not intend to exhaustively pursue the appeal on behalf of the prosecution,” Morrissey said.

Baldwin was accused of involuntary manslaughter in October 2021. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when a gun Baldwin was holding discharged on set, but the actor has maintained all along that he never pulled the trigger. The prosecution argued last July that Baldwin was reckless and criminally negligent for firing the gun, while the defense maintained that as an actor, their client was not responsible for gun safety on set.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case on the third day of the trial after learning that the prosecution did not reveal a cache of bullets to the defense, per Variety, and that this evidence was potentially crucial. But Morrissey later appealed that decision, saying the bullets were irrelevant to the case. 

Baldwin’s lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro made a statement on this most recent development, saying: “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. The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”

The film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was accused of loading the gun, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March. She appealed her conviction after the charges against Baldwin were dismissed, but her appeal was denied.

Rust’s safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a firearm. He was sentenced to six months of unsupervised parole.

Baldwin previously settled a civil lawsuit filed by loved ones of Hutchins in 2022. “I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin),” the cinematographer’s husband Matthew said in a statement at the time.

“All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work,” the widower said.

Meanwhile, Hutchins’ mother Olga Solovey boycotted the premiere of the movie in Poland last month, saying she sees the film’s release as an opportunity for Baldwin to “unjustly profit” from her daughter’s death.