SANTA FE, N.M. (Court TV) — A special prosecutor in New Mexico is fighting to have charges refiled against Alec Baldwin and has asked a judge to reconsider her decision to dismiss charges after a mistrial this summer.
Alec Baldwin sits in court during his trial in Santa Fe, N.M., Thursday, July 11, 2024. Baldwin is facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a cinematographer on the set of the film “Rust”. (Ramsay de Give/Pool Photo via AP)
Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was shot and killed on the set of their movie, Rust, on Oct. 21, 2021. The movie’s director, Joel Souza, was also hit by the bullet. Baldwin was practicing a scene and was holding the gun when it went off but denied pulling the trigger.
Hannah Gutierrez, who worked as the armorer on Rust, was convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter for allowing the live bullets onto the set. She is currently appealing her conviction while serving an 18-month sentence.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed charges with prejudice against Baldwin on July 12 after his attorneys accused prosecutors of withholding evidence in the case. The evidence in question is several bullets that were given to investigators by Troy Teske. Teske, a former police officer, stored ammunition for Thell Reed, Gutierrez’s stepfather and a retired movie armorer. That ammunition came under scrutiny after the shooting, when investigators were trying to determine where the live rounds came from.
Gutierrez’s attorney had asked an investigator in the case, Corporal Alexandria Hancock, to collect a series of rounds from Teske and send them to the FBI to be tested, but Hancock never did. When Gutierrez’s trial ended and Teske had not been called to the stand, he took the rounds that remained in his possession and gave them to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
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“The fact that Mr. Teske turned over live rounds with the same characteristics as the live rounds found on the set of Rust that can be purchased at any gun store two and a half years after Ms. Hutchins’ death is immaterial to the case against Mr. Baldwin,” Prosecutor Kari Morrissey wrote in her motion.
In their motion to dismiss, Baldwin’s attorneys argued that his rights to due process were violated when the prosecution failed to hand over key evidence. But Morrissey said it never occurred to her that the rounds could have been relevant to the case.
“There was no cover-up because there was nothing to cover up.” Morrissey said in the motion.
Morrissey also asked, in her motion, for the judge to compel Baldwin’s attorneys to “provide a description and all documents related to when and how they learned of the Teske ammunition,” accusing the defense of waiting to raise the issue during the trial as a tactical move.
The bullets in question were not key to the prosecution’s case, Morrissey said in the filing, noting “Mr. Baldwin still handled his gun recklessly in violation of his own union’s safety bulletins and New Mexico law. … The case against Mr. Baldwin was solely based upon his actions when the gun was in his hand.”
On Sept. 5, Judge Sommer denied Morrissey’s motion with prejudice, noting that the 52-page filing exceeded the 10-page limit.
