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It ain’t quite over yet, but it sure looks like Alec Baldwin’s dismissed involuntary manslaughter case for the fatal 2021 shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins won’t be returning to court any time soon.
“Considering the arguments of the State set forth in the Amended Motion and Reply, the Court. concludes that the State does not raise any factual or legal arguments that would Justify the grant of a motion to reconsider,” wrote Judge Mary Marlow Sommer on October 24 of prosecution attempts to resurrect the trial that was tossed out on July 12 over evidence suppression. “Therefore, the Amended Motion is not well taken and should be denied,” the New Mexico official added.
Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey plans to appeal, source tell me.
Hutchins was killed, and Rust director Joel Souza was injured, on October 21, 2021 after the Colt .45 Baldwin was pointing at the cinematographer fired off a live round during a rehearsal at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, where the indie Western was filming.
Poised to star in his own TLC reality show with wife Hilaria and their children, 30 Rock star Baldwin saw prosecutors fall into a well-placed defense trap when it emerged there were bullets handed over to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office that the actor’s team hadn’t seen. The decision by Judge Sommer on July 12, four days into Baldwin’s trial and at the end of a rocky evidentiary hearing over a defense motion to dismiss the case. The bullets in question were dropped off to police in the spring by ex-Arizona cop Troy Teske, a friend of incarcerated Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed‘s legendary gun coach Thall Reed. The prosecution asserted that the bullets had nothing to do with the case despite the apparent misfiling by the police — a claim that Judge Sommer wasn’t buying.
Baldwin, who always insisted he did not pull the trigger and the gun discharged on its own, had faced up to 18 months in state prison if found guilty. The FBI, an independent analysis and the man who actually made the gun all disagreed with Baldwin’s assertion about the gun going off without the trigger being pulled. Though the criminal case looks to be over, Baldwin still faces nearly a dozen civil suits over the Rust tragedy.
Still, as Baldwin made more steps back into the spotlight with a recent stint on SNL, Morrissey’s appeal of this latest ruling might not make much of a difference at this point in the case that everyone but the Special Prosecutor seems to have moved on from now.
Foe two thing: Always a long shot at best by Special Prosecutor, the desire to see Baldwin back in court was rejected for not really bringing anything new to the matter and taking too long to file the correct documents.
“Because the State’s Amended Motion raises arguments previously made, and arguments that the State elected not to raise earlier the Court does not find the Amended Morion well taken,” Judge Sommer said in the six-page order on Thursday. She adds later on in the document: Thus, because the State’s Amended Motion was filed outside the time limit for the State to initiate its appeal. the Amended Motion is untimely, Therefore, the Court does not find the Amended Motion well taken due to its untimeliness.”
Reps for Baldwin did not respond to request for comment from Deadline on Judge Sommer’s new ruling. If they do, this post will be updated.
A final version of Rust is set to debut next month at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland. Baldwin will not be in attendance.
