New Mexico judge denies prosecutor’s bid to reopen Alec Baldwin manslaughter case
A New Mexico judge has refused to revive Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter case in the “Rust†movie shooting, denying a motion from the prosecutor who had asked the judge to reconsider her decision to clear Baldwin of criminal liability.
First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer late Thursday denied special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey’s motion to reconsider the dismissal of the felony charge against Baldwin, star of the troubled western movie.
“The Court concludes that the State does not raise any factual or legal arguments that would justify the grant of a motion to reconsider,†Marlowe Sommer wrote in her five-page order.
“The State disagrees with the Court’s analysis and intends to appeal the ruling,†Morrissey said Friday in response.
Morrissey, in recent motions filed with the court, has defended the state’s handling of the case and disputed evidence — rounds of ammunition turned over to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department earlier this year that may have matched the bullet that killed “Rust†cinematographer Halyna Hutchins three years ago.
But the judge appeared troubled over the prosecutor’s attitude toward Baldwin’s defense attorneys’ arguments in July that the actor had been denied his right to review all of the evidence against him.
Marlowe Sommer said that during a July 12 hearing over the disputed evidence, Morrissey “elected not to make any argument following the introduction of evidence ... and chose not to ask the court to recess the hearing to allow additional time for the state to conduct research and prepare argument.â€
Marlowe Sommer also wrote that Morrissey’s motion was untimely, noting the prosecutor missed an Aug. 30 deadline to file the motion. In addition, the judge said Morrissey’s 52-page motion exceeded the number of pages allowed by state rules.
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Baldwin was facing an 18-month prison sentence if found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for Hutchins’ Oct. 21, 2021, death during the production of “Rust.†But just as the trial was getting underway in a Santa Fe courtroom, Marlowe Sommer tossed out Baldwin’s criminal case after the new evidence came to light.
Months earlier, a former police officer who lives in Arizona had delivered nearly two dozen .45-caliber rounds to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department, saying the ammunition might have been related to the “Rust†shooting.
But sheriff’s deputies failed to make those bullets available to Baldwin’s defense attorneys for inspection. Instead, the rounds were put in evidence storage under a different case number than the one for the “Rust†shooting investigation.
Baldwin’s attorneys argued that the actor-producer was denied his right to a fair trial because the state was obligated to turn over all evidence that could be helpful to his defense.
The judge agreed and dismissed the charges against Baldwin with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled.
Morrissey tried to argue the judge’s actions were too severe because the rounds had no bearing on Baldwin’s case.
The judge in the Baldwin involuntary manslaughter case dismissed the criminal charge after discovering the extent of an alleged effort to conceal potential evidence.
The disputed rounds made it to sheriff’s deputies in a round-about way.
The retired police officer, Troy Teske, is a friend of Thell Reed, a noted Hollywood armorer and father of “Rust†weapons handler Hannah Gutierrez. In 2021, Teske stored ammunition for Reed, who also lives in Arizona. Teske was scheduled to be a witness in Gutierrez’s trial in early March, so he brought the bullets with him to Santa Fe in case they could be useful. But Gutierrez’s defense attorney decided not to call Teske to testify.
Gutierrez was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter in the Hutchins shooting.
In the death of Halyna Hutchins, some film workers see the tragic result of a troubling trend in how producers of low-budget films place financial considerations over human ones.
After her conviction, and before leaving Santa Fe, Teske turned over the ammunition to the Sheriff’s Department.
The judge was chagrined to learn that three of the rounds appeared to match the fatal bullet in the “Rust†movie set shooting, contributing to her decision to dismiss the charges against Baldwin.
Separately, Gutierrez failed in her bid this fall to have Marlowe Sommer throw out her conviction, alleging that the prosecutor also withheld evidence in her proceedings. Gutierrez is serving her 18-month sentence at a New Mexico women’s prison.
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