The spectacular collapse of New Mexico’s criminal prosecution of Alec Baldwin in the deadly “Rust” movie shooting laid bare nearly three years of errors by state officials who were eager to prove themselves on a world stage. Legal experts had long said it was a risk to charge Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter, a felony, for the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, whom the actor accidentally shot while preparing for a scene with a firearm. Baldwin had been told — incorrectly — that his prop gun contained no actual ammunition.
New Mexico First Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out Baldwin’s charges late Friday following a day-long hearing in which defense attorneys alleged Santa Fe County deputies and a special prosecutor concealed potential evidence — a bag of bullets an Arizona retired police officer turned in after the incident — that may have proved helpful to Baldwin’s case. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching,” Marlowe Sommer said, directing her scorn at prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey.
Baldwin, who had been facing an 18-month prison sentence if convicted, sobbed as he heard the decision. Legal experts were stunned at what they said was the prosecution’s botching of the case. “What a catastrophic end to this case for the special prosecutor,” said Santa Fe attorney John Day, who was not involved in the case.
“It was a disa.