A judge in New Mexico denied a request to revisit criminal charges against Alec Baldwin in connection with the October 2021 fatal shooting on the set of Rust.
The 30 Rock actor’s initial involuntary manslaughter charge in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was dismissed with prejudice in July after Judge Mary Sommer agreed with his defense that prosecutors withheld evidence.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey still filed a motion asking Sommer to consider reinstating the case against Baldwin.
In a court filing Friday, Sommer wrote, “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 motion well taken.”
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“State does not raise any factual or legal arguments that would justify the grant of a motion to reconsider,” she added.
Baldwin, 66, maintains that he was holding a gun that fired and killed cinematographer Halana Hutchins but did not pull the trigger.
Newsweek has contacted Baldwin’s lawyers for comment.
Meanwhile, Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed remains in prison serving her 18-month sentence for her role in the shooting after Sommer denied her motions for a new trial or dismissal of her case and immediate release from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility
“With respect to the defendant’s arguments concerning her request for release pending appeal, the court finds that defendant has not established by clear and convincing evidence that defendant is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if released,” Sommer said in her decision at the time.
In a statement after the legal loss, Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney Jason Bowles said, “We will appeal.” Gutierrez-Reed already has a separate appeal of her conviction pending in a higher court.
In a virtual court hearing on September 26, Bowles called the Gutierrez-Reed case “the most egregious case I have ever seen in prosecutorial misconduct.”
“There’s no case I’ve ever seen that is this bad. Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers wrote that and their response they recently filed, and this court appropriately dismissed that case,” he said.
Gabriela Campos/Santa Fe New Mexican/AP
“That’s why we have asked for the dismissal remedy because this case is so egregious. What happened is lying, cheating, hiding evidence.”
Bowles continued, “With regard to the release, we wanted to go through the chain of command. We wanted to address that with this court first and then we will, depending on this court’s ruling, go to the Court of Appeals next, but I wanted to respect the chain of command and respect this court’s authority of the proceedings.”
Gutierrez-Reed was accused of violating safety protocols and failing to spot instances of prohibited live ammunition on the Western film set. Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to charges of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
While Gutierrez-Reed admitted to loading the gun that killed Hutchins, she has consistently denied bringing live rounds onto the set. A 12-person jury acquitted her of evidence tampering related to allegations of supplying another crew member with cocaine but found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
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