In defense of the state’s handling of the “Rust” shooting, New Mexico special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey asked the judge to review again the circumstances that led to the dismissal of the manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin.
In a court filing Friday, Morrissey asked New Mexico First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to reconsider her decision to dismiss Baldwin's murder case.
Six weeks ago, Marlowe Sommer brought Baldwin’s criminal trial to a dramatic end after potential new evidence came to light. A former police officer living in Arizona had months earlier turned over nearly two dozen .45-caliber bullets to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department, saying they could have been linked to the “Rust” shooting two and a half years earlier that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The former officer, Troy Teske, is a friend of Thell Reed, a well-known Hollywood gunsmith and the father of Hannah Gutierrez, the gun handler in “Rust,” who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March for the shooting. Teske was scheduled to be a witness at his trial, but Gutierrez’s defense attorney decided not to call him.
After Gutierrez’s trial and before leaving Santa Fe, Teske turned over the ammunition he had brought to New Mexico to local sheriff’s deputies. The shell casings from three of the bullets appeared to match the fatal bullet from the shooting on the set of the movie “Rust,” deputies later testified.
During Baldwin’s trial, the Santa Fe County sheriff’s crime scene technician testified that she removed the bullets from Teske and placed them in an evidence locker. However, the bullets were not included as part of the evidence in the shooting of “Rust,” later testimony showed.
Instead, the ammunition was filed under a different case number, a fact that Baldwin's lawyers seized on as evidence that the state was allegedly withholding material that could have been helpful to Baldwin's defense.
The judge agreed and dismissed the criminal charge.
Alec Baldwin, right, hugs his defense attorney Alex Spiro after District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor.
(Luis Sanchez Saturno/Associated Press)
In her 52-page motion, Morrissey argued that defense attorneys knew more about the Teske bullets than she did. She wrote that the situation surrounding the bullets did not rise to a level that would warrant Marlowe Sommer dismissing her case, meaning she could not run again.
Morrissey claimed that the late disclosure of the Teske bullets did not hamper Baldwin's defense because his attorneys apparently knew of the ammunition's existence before the trial. Morrissey also argued that the bullets were unrelated to the charges Baldwin was facing.
“It never occurred to the State that the Teske bullets were relevant to the case against Mr. Baldwin, and they are not,” Morrissey wrote.
A representative for Baldwin was not immediately available for comment.
Morrissey wrote that the state, which had only two attorneys on Baldwin’s case, lacked the resources of the actor’s team, which included at least nine lawyers. He asked the judge to require Baldwin’s attorneys to reveal when they learned of Teske’s rounds, presumably to show it was well before Baldwin’s trial began with jury selection on July 9.
Morrissey also wrote in his motion that crime scene technician Marissa Poppell was not trying to mislead the judge when she testified that the Teske bullets were different than those discovered on the set of the movie “Rust” in October 2021.
“She gave erroneous and inaccurate testimony because sometimes people make mistakes,” Morrissey wrote.
In July, the judge became visibly angry when she saw that three of the bullets appeared to match live ammunition found on the “Rust” set.
Morrissey said the judge should have considered less severe remedies, such as declaring a mistrial to give Baldwin's team a chance to inspect the bullets and have them analyzed by the FBI.
The judge has scheduled a hearing later this month to consider a separate motion filed by Gutierrez's attorney to vacate his conviction or grant a new trial.
