A cascade of “misleading statements” and “false” claims by Alec Baldwin’s lawyers in the Rust star’s involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins will do nothing to erase the actor’s “complete lack of concern for the safety of those around him,” declares the prosecution.
Set to go on trial on July 9 in Santa Fe on charges re-filed in late January, Baldwin is facing up to 18 months behind bars if found guilty in the killing of Hutchins. With Baldwin pleading not guilty and always proclaiming he never pulled the trigger on the Colt .45 that fired live rounds at Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza, his lawyers have slammed the case as an “abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person.” They want it dismissed ASAP
Fresh of their successful involuntary manslaughter conviction of Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on March 6, one of the special prosecutors basically asserts Baldwin is in fact the one abusing the system on-set and in the courts.
“To watch Mr. Baldwin’s conduct on the set of Rust is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct effects those around him,” says Kari Morrissey in a scathing response (read it here) to the Emmy-winner’s attorneys latest March 14 attempt to get his case tossed out and the “false narrative” he has been constructing since that tragic October 21, 2021 day. “Witnesses have testified that it was this exact conduct that contributed to safety compromises on set.”
The troubled set of the indie Western saw numerous unintended weapons discharges and most of the camera crew leave due to safety and financial concerns the day before Hutchins was killed. As a producer on the project, Baldwin is assumed to have been informed of what was going on. A season vet of many an action movie, Baldwin was also expected to follow proper firearm protocols — which, by his own sometimes contradictory accounts, didn’t happen.
Morrissey confirms in her exhibit heavy response that there was an up until recently secret October 2023 proposed plea deal for Baldwin, but she says it fell apart because of cumulative alleged moves by the actor and his attorneys. The defense supposedly leaked the confidential material to NBC News (where Baldwin had an MSNBC show for a spell) and intended to file suits against the state of New Mexico and past prosecutors to “direct media attention to the frivolous lawsuit and away from the plea hearing.”
Noting the deal was very similar to the probation agreement accepted by Rust first assistant director David Halls, Morrissey adds in the 32-page response:
As disturbing this information was, undersigned counsel was not inclined to rescind the plea offer simply because Mr. Baldwin intended to continue to use the media to escape the consequences of his actions and his counsel had flagrantly disregarded the privileged and confidential nature of plea negotiations. Next, undersigned counsel received information that Mr. Baldwin commissioned his own documentary about the death of the woman he killed and was actively pressuring material witnesses in the case against him to submit to interviews for his documentary. It was at this point that the plea offer was rescinded, and the case was scheduled for grand jury. And still Mr. Baldwin complains to this Court that he has been treated unfairly.
If that wasn’t blunt enough for you to pick up what Morrissey and her fellow Special Prosecutor Jason Lewis think of Baldwin and his defense team of NYC-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan lawyers and Albuquerque firm LeBlanc Law, the Special Prosecutor makes it clear as day what she feels about the March 14 motion to dismiss:
The defendant’s motion to dismiss is a predictably false, misleading, and histrionic misrepresentation of the facts and circumstances of the history of the case. The two special prosecutors who have been assigned the prosecution of Mr. Baldwin have experienced near countless lies and manipulation from the defense for more than one year. In addition, we have, and certainly will continue to be, the subject of the defendant’s contrived and unwarranted personal attacks.
The primary goal of Mr. Baldwin and his counsel, which now numbers eight total attorneys: Heather LeBlanc (local counsel who, despite her reputation for hard work and competence, has been relegated to largely menial tasks), Alex Spiro (New York), Luke Nikas (New York), John Bash (Texas), Sara Clark (Texas), Michael Nosanchuk (New York) Jennifer Stern (New York) and Stephanie Kelemen (New York) is to ensure that the case is not heard on its merits, and if it is heard on its merits, to discredit the prosecution, investigation, and witnesses in the media so that a conviction becomes unlikely for reasons that have nothing to do with Mr. Baldwin’s criminal culpability. It is the job of the special prosecutors to investigate the case and fairly and impartially prosecute the case and we will continue to do so despite the defendant’s relentless attempts to discredit and intimidate the prosecution and the courageous witnesses who continue to participate in the struggle for justice for Halyna Hutchins and her family.
Baldwin’s lawyers have no comment Monday on the special prosecutors’ latest filing.
As Baldwin’s case plays out and heads to its own trial, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s incarceration fate is still to be determined.
Taken into custody immediately on March 6 and denied release at a March 29 hearing by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer Gutierrez-Reed will be sentenced April 15. Declared innocent by the jurors of the evidence tampering charge the Special Prosecutors hit here with last year, Gutierrez-Reed could get a maximum of 18 months in a state prison and be forced to pay thousands in fines.
Recharged with involuntary manslaughter in January and having entered a not guilty plea not long afterward, Baldwin is up against around half a dozen civil cases in California and New Mexico courts related to the fatal Rust shooting .
Rust was resurrected early last year and completed filming in Montana with Baldwin and Souza returning as star/producer and director respectively. Finished for months, Rust has not been picked up by any buyers so far.