Alec Baldwin considers legal action against officials for withholding evidence after Rust mistrial

US actor Alec Baldwin attends his manslaughter trial at the Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024. (Ramsay De Give/Pool/AFP)

• Alec Baldwin is considering suing New Mexico state authorities after evidence was withheld in his botched manslaughter trial in connection with the shooting on the set of “Rust.”
• A judge ruled in Baldwin’s favor, citing suppressed evidence regarding the live ammunition that killed camerawoman Halyna Hutchins.
• Baldwin’s legal team has asked the district attorney’s office and the sheriff to preserve the records for possible future legal proceedings.

Alec Baldwin has informed a New Mexico state prosecutor and sheriff that he may sue them after it emerged that they withheld evidence from his defense team when they tried to prosecute him for a fatal shooting on the set of rust.

A New Mexico judge dismissed manslaughter charges against Baldwin on the third day of his trial Friday, agreeing with his lawyers that prosecutor Kari Morrissey and the sheriff’s office suppressed evidence about the source of the live ammunition that killed the man. rust Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.

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Baldwin’s lawyers sent letters to Morrissey and Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza on Monday asking them to preserve the documents for future litigation, according to copies of the letters seen by Reuters.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it received the letter from Baldwin’s legal team but declined further comment Wednesday. Morrissey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hutchins died when Baldwin pointed a gun at her while they were preparing a camera shot on a movie set near Santa Fe. The gun fired a live bullet that had been accidentally loaded by Hannah Gutierrez, the film’s gunsmith. Gutierrez was convicted of manslaughter in March.

Gutierrez, is serving an 18-month prison sentencefiled a motion Tuesday seeking a new indictment over prosecutors’ failure to disclose evidence regarding the live ammunition, the examination of Baldwin’s gun by firearms expert Lucien Haag and the interview with the film’s prop supplier, Seth Kenney.

Erlinda Johnson resigned from her position as Morrissey’s assistant in the district attorney’s office on Friday, shortly before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dropped the charges against Baldwin.

Johnson told Reuters that she had provided unredacted documents to the defense in the months since her appointment in April after the defense approached her for information because Morrissey had not provided the requested documents.

“As prosecutors, we have an obligation to disclose all evidence,” she said, adding that she thought it was right to close the case. “We have an obligation not only to the people, but also to the defendants who are accused of crimes.”

Johnson said she did not provide Baldwin’s lawyer with details of the live ammunition and only learned of the evidence when the defense learned of it during her testimony in court.