A New Mexico prosecutor is asking for involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin to be reinstated after they were dismissed with prejudice in July.
Baldwin was charged in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, whom he shot with a gun he believed was unloaded on the set of the Western film “Rust” in 2021. The 66-year-old movie star and producer insists he never pulled the trigger on the Colt .45 that inadvertently killed the 42-year-old filmmaker.
The case against Baldwin was abruptly dropped in the middle of his trial when Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled police and prosecutors had withheld ammunition evidence from defense attorneys in “such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings.”
Prosecutors said the evidence wasn’t pertinent to the case. Baldwin’s lawyers argued otherwise, claiming the ammunition brought to the Sheriff’s office by a “good Samaritan” was deliberately buried.
A Wednesday court filing from special prosecutor Kari Morrissey contends Baldwin’s due process rights weren’t violated and that facts supporting the ruling in state district court didn’t justify the case’s finale, according to the Associated Press.
Due to the nature of the case‘s dismissal, new charges can’t be brought against Baldwin once the appellate process runs its course.
“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was handed an 18-month sentence in April for her role in Hutchins’ death. Prosecutors blamed the 26-year-old weapons handler for the live ammunition in Baldwin’s firearm, though the court didn’t determine fault for bullets being on set.