The case surrounding the death of a cinematographer on the set of Alec Baldwin‘s ill-fated western Rust in 2021 is now over after New Mexico prosecutors decided not to pursue an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against him.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey announced yesterday (December 23) that she was withdrawing her appeal of a judge’s order dismissing the case.
On October 21, 2021, Baldwin discharged a revolver used as a prop and was unaware that it had been improperly loaded with live ammunition, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
In a 2023 trial, the 30 Rock actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter in a case which was then dropped, and was tried again in 2024. The prosecution intended to show that Baldwin was reckless and criminally negligent when he fired the revolver but the case was dismissed with prejudice after Baldwin’s lawyers revealed that the prosecution and the local sheriffs had concealed a cache of bullets that was considered evidence. Consequently, the case against the actor was dismissed in July.
Meanwhile, armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison the following month.
Baldwin’s lawyers, Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas, have praised the decision to withdraw the appeal.
“Today’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,” they said [via Variety]. “The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”
The family of Halyna Hutchins were opposed to the appeal being withdrawn. They are continuing to pursue a civil case against Baldwin and the film’s producers in state court in New Mexico.
Last week, Baldwin said on David Duchovny’s Fail Better podcast that “there is more to come” regarding the incident, adding: “The truth of what happened has never been told.”
He continued: “There’s more to come, but the more to come is now my effort, and it’s going to be undeniably a successful effort, to raise and to expose what really happened. I was counterpunching. I was on the defensive. I was being accused. I was being indicted.”
Baldwin also said that the mainstream media “suppressed every story” that could have helped exonerate him, yet “amplified every story” that portrayed him in a negative light in the years since Hutchins’ death.
He added: “We have more shit that’s going to come out in ensuing legal filings and so forth. These last three years, people have just dined out. Because in this country, when people hate you on that level, they want three things. They want you to die.”
He went on to say that some people have continued to shun him from the industry, which he compared to “being dead because you roam the earth and you’re invisible.”
However, he said he thinks things are turning around for him, adding: “I do believe that, by the communications I’ve had lately, things are coming back my way to work. I’m happy about that because I’ve got seven kids. But I’ve also enjoyed the fact that there’s so much of this case that is not known because we didn’t have a full trial.”
Last month, Baldwin discussed the incident at the Torino Film Festival, sharing that he doesn’t want to see the movie. He described it as “the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life,” telling Variety of the impact it had on his wife, and revealed that he waived his fee for the film. Instead, everything he was due to receive was given to Hutchins’ husband Matt.
He said that he finished the movie against doctors’ orders, explaining: “I said to Joel [Souza, Rust director], “Are you going to do it? If you think it’s important to do this, I’ll do it. If it’s the only way we can settle the case with [Hutchins’] husband and the estate is to finish the film, let’s do it.” So we go to Montana. We finish … And I waived my fee. I gave them back the fee in the budget. I waived all my backend. I gave everything to her husband.”
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