The legal battle to reinstate criminal charges against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust has officially concluded.
Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey has decided to withdraw the appeal of a July ruling that dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin.
The charge had been filed in connection with Hutchins’ death, which occurred during a rehearsal for Rust in October 2021 at a film-set ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Gloria Allred, the attorney representing Hutchins’ family, expressed outrage over the decision, stating that the family was deeply affected by the outcome.
“There was no justice, because a jury couldn’t hear the evidence,” Allred said during a press conference held in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. “(Alec Baldwin) was responsible, and he is responsible.”
Hutchins was fatally shot during the rehearsal, and despite attempts to bring charges against Baldwin, the decision to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge now stands. Allred emphasized that the family’s civil case against Baldwin would continue.
“It’s not over until it’s over, and it’s not over yet,” she said. “Although the attorney general of New Mexico, Raúl Torrez, is the Grinch who stole this Christmas, we will work to ensure that a future Christmas will be without this Grinch.”
Baldwin’s trial, which had been set for March 2024, was complicated by the discovery that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office by a man who claimed it could be connected to Hutchins’ death.
Prosecutors determined that the ammunition was unrelated to the case, while Baldwin’s legal team argued that investigators had “buried” the evidence in a separate file and successfully filed a motion to dismiss the case.
The district attorney’s office clarified that, under state law, the New Mexico attorney general would have been responsible for continuing the appeal but had decided not to pursue it in a comprehensive manner.
Local prosecutors said the state’s efforts to litigate the case had been hindered by multiple barriers that affected its ability to fully prosecute.
Legal expert John Day shared his opinion with ABC affiliate KOAT, suggesting that the attorney general made the right call in withdrawing the appeal. He believed this would not have much impact on the success or failure of the civil lawsuit.
“To criticize (the attorney general) for not pursuing it because (Allred) has a civil case, it’s a little bit like what they call crocodile tears,” Day said.
“She still has claims that could be very good and very successful against Baldwin and the production companies in the civil case.”
Day further added, “But the fact is, this criminal case has been a train wreck for many, many months; it’s been very expensive for the taxpayers of New Mexico, and the attorney general obviously did not want to get stuck in the same mud that enveloped the special prosecutors (in the criminal case).”
In response to the development, Baldwin’s attorneys issued a statement saying, “Yesterday’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. The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”
