SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico prosecutors will not appeal the dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust,” the Santa Fe district attorney’s office announced Monday. Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the appeal of a July trial court decision that dismissed the charges.
“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,” said defense attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro. “The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.” Representatives for the state attorney general could not be reached for immediate comment.
The decision upholds Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s mid-trial dismissal of the case. The judge ruled that prosecutors and police withheld evidence from the defense. This evidence included ammunition brought to the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March by a man who claimed it might be connected to Hutchins’ death. Prosecutors deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers argued investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate case file, leading to their successful motion to dismiss.
The district attorney’s office stated that while New Mexico state law allows the attorney general to continue the appeal, they “did not intend to exhaustively pursue the appeal on behalf of the prosecution.” Local prosecutors cited “multiple barriers that have compromised its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law” as reasons for dropping the appeal.
Baldwin, the film’s lead actor and co-producer, was holding a gun pointed at Hutchins during a rehearsal when it fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin maintains he did not pull the trigger. In April, movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed received a one-and-a-half-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter, while assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months of unsupervised probation.
Several civil lawsuits are pending against Baldwin and “Rust” producers, including one filed by Hutchins’ family. Prosecutors acknowledged that Hutchins’ death has led to increased industry scrutiny of safety protocols, particularly regarding firearms and live ammunition on set.