UPDATED with latest court hearing information: The New Mexico criminal case against Alec Baldwin for the on-set death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021 is officially closed.
Following yesterday’s exclusive by Deadline that involuntary manslaughter charges against the star-producer of the indie Western would be dropped, special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis official filed the paperwork Friday to bring the matter to a conclusion, for now.
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“Come now, the State of New Mexico, by and through special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis, and enters a nolle prosequi in the above-numbered and styled cause, as new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis which cannot be completed before the May 3, 2023, preliminary hearing,” the recently appointed duo said today. “The case is dismissed without prejudice and the investigation is active and on-going.”
To that end, while Baldwin will not face charges now, “without prejudice” means the matter can be reopened at any time. Morrissey and Lewis made that point clear Thursday in a statement on the shifting circumstances of the case. “This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled,” they said.
In a case that has been a train wreck even before charges were filed earlier this year, a renewed look at the 1880s prop gun that Baldwin was holding and that killed Hutchins and wounded Rust director Joel Souza may prove the key to whatever happens next. Overlooked it seems by law enforcement and Santa Fe D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies’ office is the fact that the gun had apparently been modified on Rust. Such an alteration may have led to the firearm going off without Baldwin actually pulling the trigger during a rehearsal involving Hutchins and Souza.
Having plead not guilty previously, as did his co-defendant and ex-Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Baldwin has always insisted he did not pull the trigger. It was an insistence that many dismissed, perhaps too quickly.
A preliminary examination, aka mini-trial, in the Rust case was set to start May 3 and run two weeks. Giving prosecutors the ability to present their evidence, the mini-trial would decide if the matter would go forward to a full trial – which had been widely expected to start this summer, Now that is all up in the air
Later today, a virtual hearing will be held in State v. Hannah Gutierrez before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. Charges against the ex-crew member have not been dropped, yet. However, as the special prosecutors dig deeper in to the evidence of what actually occurred on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set, Reed’s status could change as well. (UPDATED, 1:45 p.m.: The preliminary examination for Reed has been set begin August 7.)
In late January, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed were charged with two counts each of involuntary manslaughter, while Rust assistant director Dave Halls made a plea deal and received six months of unsupervised probation. Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty at the time.
Earlier this week before Baldwin’s charges were dropped, the special prosecutors released a 35-person witness list that included Rust director Souza; script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who is suing Baldwin and his fellow producers in one of several suits against them in Los Angeles Superior Court and in New Mexico; and Seth Kenney, who supplied the set with guns and ammo. Kenney has denied providing live rounds to the Rust production set.
Soon after criminal charges were filed in the case, the D.A. was forced to drop the firearm enhancement charge (and its five-year mandatory sentence if found guilty) she tacked on to Baldwin and Reed’s charges after it was deemed unconstitutional. Carmack-Altwies then lost Andrea Reeb as the case’s special prosecutor due to her conflict of interest as a GOP state legislator. The D.A. in February also lost an attempt to block Reed’s request to have a gun in her home for self-defense.
With one pratfall after another, ultimately Carmack-Altwies removed herself from the case, with Morrissey and Lewis, both veteran New Mexico attorneys, stepping in.
Earlier today, high-profile attorney Gloria Allred once again put Baldwin on notice that even as the Rust criminal case dims, two civil cases against him involving her clients continue:
No matter what happens in the criminal case in New Mexico which was filed against Alec Baldwin, we are committed to proceeding with our civil lawsuit on behalf of our clients. We represent Mamie Mitchell, the former script supervisor for Rust. In addition, we represent Halyna’s mother Olga Solovey, Halyna’s father Anatolii Androsovych, and Halyna’s sister Svetlana Zemko.
Despite the prosecutor’s decision to dismiss the criminal charge against Alec Baldwin without prejudice, the victims of Alec Baldwin that we represent remain hopeful.
Mr. Baldwin has tried to dismiss our civil case against him, and he has failed. He has argued to the Court that we should not be permitted to seek punitive damages in our lawsuit against him, and he has failed.
He has even sunk so low as to attack Halyna Hutchins’ grieving mother, father, and sister for seeking to make him accountable for his part in the death of Halyna Hutchins.
Mr. Baldwin should know that we remain committed to fighting and winning for our clients and holding him accountable for pointing a loaded gun at Halyna Hutchins, pulling the trigger, and killing her.
Mr. Baldwin may pretend that he is not responsible for pulling the trigger and ejecting a live bullet which ended Halyna’s life.
He can run to Montana and pretend that he is just an actor in a wild west movie but, in real life, he cannot escape from the fact that he had a major role in a tragedy which had real life consequences for Halyna, her mother, father, sister, and co-worker.
No matter where Alec Baldwin goes, whether it is to Montana or an expensive restaurant in New York City, he cannot escape responsibility for his role in shooting and killing Halyna, who was a young mother, a beloved daughter, a loving sister, and an admired co-worker.
We look forward to seeing Alec Baldwin in court where a jury will decide if Alec Baldwin is just a movie star or a defendant who should be held accountable for the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins.
With Baldwin on-set, the resurrected Rust returns to production today in Montana, with Hutchins’ husband Matthew becoming an EP in a settlement that was reached with Rust producers a year after the tragic shooting. Souza returns to direct, and Frances Fisher returns in her role from the first version of the film.
The logline for the pic, written by Souza, based on a story developed by the director and Baldwin, reads: “A 13-year-old boy, left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s Kansas, is taken on a violent, harrowing journey to old Mexico by his long estranged grandfather after he’s sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.”
Grant Hill, known for working on challenging productions from James Cameron’s Oscar-winning Titanic to the Waschowskis’ Jupiter Ascending and Terrence Malick movies, is aboard as producer with Baldwin, Matt DelPiano, Ryan Smith, Anjul Nigam, Ryan Winterstern and Nathan Klingher.
Gutierrez-Reed is not participating in Rust 2.0.
