Prosecutor in Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' shooting case presses judge to reinstate charge

The prosecutor overseeing Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” shooting case asked the judge to reinstate the charge against the actor after the case was dismissed over the summer.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued in a court filing made public this week that there were “insufficient facts” to support the New Mexico judge’s ruling to dismiss the case in July. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled the state withheld evidence, and the case could not be retried. 

The involuntary charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, which means it can’t be brought back to court after any appeals of the decision are exhausted. The case was dismissed about halfway through the trial, which came nearly three years after the deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a Western movie set in New Mexico.

Baldwin, 66, pleaded not guilty earlier this year. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of Hutchins, at whom he was pointing the gun while on set in 2021. The gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

The dismissal stemmed from ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March from a man who said it could be related to the “Rust” shooting. The prosecutors and law enforcement were accused of withholding this evidence because it was not turned over to the defense.

The prosecutors maintained at the time that they deemed the ammunition as unrelated to the case, according to The Associated Press.

In Morrissey’s request to reinstate the charges, she reemphasized that the ammunition was not applicable to the case and asserted there was “no violation” of Baldwin’s due process rights. She also argued the defense was aware of the ammunition but did not address it before the trial.

“Specifically, the State asserts that, while the State may have suppressed the ammunition from Defendant Baldwin, the Defendant was aware of the existence of the ammunition and the specific characteristics of the ammunition prior to trial, the ammunition is not favorable to the defendant and is not material to his defense,” Morrissey wrote.

She asked the judge to demand that the defense provide a description of when and how they learned of the ammunition provided by Troy Teske, who dropped off the ammunition at the sheriff's department.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison after prosecutors argued she brought live ammunition onto the set despite rules against it. Gutierrez-Reed has asked for a new trial since Baldwin's case was dismissed.

A representative for Baldwin’s lawyer did not have a comment on the prosecutor’s request when reached by The Hill.

The Associated Press contributed.