A New Mexico judge declined to revive Alec Baldwin's manslaughter case on the set of the movie “Rust,” rejecting a prosecutor's motion that had asked the judge to reconsider his decision to exempt Baldwin from criminal liability.
First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Thursday night denied special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey's motion to reconsider the dismissal of the felony charge against Baldwin, star of the troubled western.
“The Court concludes that the State raises no factual or legal argument to justify granting a motion for reconsideration,” Marlowe Sommer wrote in his 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 in court, has defended the state's handling of the case and questioned the evidence: ammunition rounds delivered 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 seemed concerned about the prosecutor's attitude toward arguments by Baldwin's defense attorneys 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 on the disputed evidence, Morrissey “chose not to present any argument after the introduction of the evidence…and chose not to ask the court to adjourn the hearing to give the trial additional time.” state to carry out investigation and prepare arguments.”
Marlowe Sommer also wrote that Morrissey's motion was untimely, noting that the prosecutor missed the Aug. 30 deadline to file the motion. Additionally, the judge said Morrissey's 52-page motion exceeded the number of pages allowed by state rules.
Baldwin faced an 18-month prison sentence if convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021 during production of “Rust.” But just as the trial began in a Santa Fe courtroom, Marlowe Sommer dismissed Baldwin's criminal case after new evidence came to light.
Months earlier, a former police officer living in Arizona had turned over nearly two dozen .45-caliber bullets to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department, saying the ammunition could have been related to the “Rust” shooting.
But sheriff's deputies did not make those bullets available to Baldwin's defense attorneys for inspection. Instead, the bullets were stored in an evidence warehouse with a different case number than the “Rust” shooting investigation.
Actor Alec Baldwin, left, with attorney Luke Nikas, right, during Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial in July in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
(Ramsay from Give/Associated Press)
Baldwin's lawyers argued that the actor and producer was denied his right to a fair trial because the state was required to turn over all evidence that could be useful in his defense.
The judge agreed and dismissed the charges against Baldwin with prejudice, meaning they cannot be brought again.
Morrissey attempted to argue that the judge's actions were too harsh because the rounds were unrelated to Baldwin's case.
The disputed rounds reached sheriff's deputies indirectly.
Retired police officer Troy Teske is friends with Thell Reed, a prominent Hollywood gunsmith and father of “Rust” gun handler Hannah Gutierrez. In 2021, Teske stockpiled ammunition for Reed, who also lives in Arizona. Teske was scheduled to be a witness at Gutierrez's trial in early March, so he brought the bullets to Santa Fe in case they might be useful. But Gutiérrez's defense attorney decided not to call Teske to testify.
Gutierrez was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of Hutchins.
After his conviction, and before leaving Santa Fe, Teske turned the ammunition over to the Sheriff's Department.
The judge was upset to learn that three of the bullets appeared to match the fatal bullet in the filming of the movie “Rust,” which contributed to her decision to dismiss the charges against Baldwin.
Separately, Gutierrez failed in his attempt this fall to have Marlowe Sommer overturn his conviction, alleging that the prosecutor also withheld evidence in his trial. Gutierrez is serving her 18-month sentence in a New Mexico women's prison.
