Prosecutors Drop Appeal in Dismissed Rust Shooting Case Against Alec Baldwin

New Mexico prosecutors have decided not to appeal a court's ruling that dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in connection with the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film Rust.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has withdrawn the appeal of a July ruling that dismissed the charge against Alec Baldwin in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins was fatally shot during a rehearsal on the Rust movie set near Santa Fe in October 2021.

The decision to drop the appeal confirms the earlier ruling by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who dismissed the case midway through the trial due to allegations that police and prosecutors had withheld evidence from the defence.

Baldwin’s trial was disrupted by revelations that a man had brought ammunition into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March, claiming it might be linked to Hutchins’ death.

Prosecutors dismissed the ammunition as unrelated and insignificant, while Baldwin’s defense attorneys argued that investigators had "buried" the evidence in a separate case file. They filed a successful motion to have the case dismissed.

The district attorney’s office stated that while the New Mexico attorney general could have continued the appeal, they "did not intend to exhaustively pursue it on behalf of the prosecution."

The statement continued, "As a result, the State's efforts to litigate the case fairly and comprehensively have been hindered by multiple barriers, compromising its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law."