New Mexico prosecutors will not appeal a court's decision dismissing a manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western film, the Santa Fe District Attorney's Office announced on Monday.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew an appeal of a July decision at a hearing to dismiss charges against Baldwin in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set of the film Rust outside Santa Fe in October 2021.
“Today's decision to dismiss the appeal is the final confirmation of what Alec Baldwin and his lawyers 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 in New Mexico remains intact.”
Representatives for the state attorney general could not immediately be reached for comment.
The decision to withdraw the appeal reinforces Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer's ruling midway through Baldwin's trial, which dismissed the case on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.
Baldwin's trial was marred by the revelation that the ammunition was brought to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in March by a man who said it might be related to Hutchins' murder.
Prosecutors said they found the ammunition unrelated and irrelevant, while Baldwin's lawyers said investigators “buried” the evidence in separate case files and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
The district attorney's office said that under state law, the New Mexico attorney general would have transferred the appeal but “did not intend to exhaustively review the appeal on behalf of the prosecutor's office.”
“As a result, the state's efforts to continue to pursue the case fairly and comprehensively have encountered numerous barriers that impede its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” local prosecutors said.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin in New Mexico. His defense attorneys accused Santa Fe law enforcement of concealing evidence about the source of the bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 by failing to record the bullets in the Rust investigation file and failing to inform defense attorneys of their existence.
Baldwin faces several lawsuits
Baldwin, lead actor and co-producer Rustduring an on-set rehearsal, he was pointing a gun at Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer but not the trigger, and the revolver fired.
In April, a judge sentenced Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a film gun supervisor, to a maximum year and a half in state prison on manslaughter charges in Hutchins' death.
Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of unknowingly bringing live ammunition to the set Rustwhere expressly prohibited, and for failure to follow basic weapons safety protocols.
Assistant Director and Safety Coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months in prison, on unsupervised probation. A notice of rejection is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
Against Baldwin i Rust producers, including a complaint filed by Hutchins' parents and sister.
Prosecutors said Hutchins' death prompted an industry-wide examination of safety protocols, especially the use of firearms and live ammunition on set.