Prosecutor asks for a charge to be reinstated against Alec Baldwin in the 'Rust' case

DISCOVERY TO THE DEFENDANT. THE STATE UNILATERALLY WITHHELD A SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT. SANTA FE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICER MADE THE DECISION AND APPARENTLY ALSO WITH THE WITH THE PROSECUTOR IS PURSUANT TO HANCOCK’S TESTIMONY THAT THE EVIDENCE WAS OF NO EVIDENTIARY VALUE AND FAILED TO CONNECT THE EVIDENCE TO THE INSTANT CASE. THE AGENT WELL AS PURSUANT TO HANCOCK’S TESTIMONY, MISS MORRISSEY WAS AWARE OF THE NEW EVIDENCE AND YET DID NOT MAKE AN EFFORT TO DISCLOSE IT TO DEFENSE. THE STATE’S WILLFUL WITHHOLDING OF THIS INFORMATION WAS INTENTIONAL AND DELIBERATE. IF THIS CONDUCT DOES NOT RISE TO THE LEVEL OF BAD FAITH, IT CERTAINLY COMES SO NEAR TO BAD FAITH AS TO SHOW SIGNS OF SCORCHING PREJUDICE. WHEN DISCOVERY HAS BEEN PRODUCED, LATE PREJUDICE DOES NOT ACCRUE UNLESS THE EVIDENCE IS MATERIAL AND THE DISCLOSURE IS SO LATE THAT IT UNDERMINES THE DEFINITION. THE DEFENDANT’S PREPARATION FOR TRIAL. THE COURT CONCLUDES THAT THIS CONDUCT IS HIGHLY PREJUDICIAL TO THE DEFENDANT. THE JURY HAS BEEN SWORN. JEOPARDY HAS ATTACHED, AND THIS DISCLOSURE DURING THE COURSE OF TRIAL IS SO LATE THAT IT UNDERMINES THE DEFENDANT’S PREPARATION FOR TRIAL. THERE IS NO WAY FOR THE COURT TO RIGHT THIS WRONG. LESSER SANCTIONS UNDER HARPER, TRIAL COURTS POSSESS BROAD DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY TO DECIDE WHAT SANCTION TO IMPOSE WHEN A DISCOVERY ORDER IS VIOLATED. STATE VERSUS LA MESA. THE SANCTION OF DISMISSAL IS THE ONLY WARRANTED REMEDY THE JURY HAS BEEN SWORN. JEOPARDY HAS ATTACHED, AND A MISTRIAL WOULD NOT BE BASED UPON MANIFEST NECESSITY. FURTHER, THE SANCTION OF DISMISSAL IS WARRANTED. IN THIS CASE, THE STATE HAS REPEATEDLY MADE REPRESENTATIONS TO DEFENSE AND TO THE COURT THAT THEY WERE COMPLIANT WITH ALL THEIR DISCOVERY OBLIGATIONS, DESPITE THEIR REPEATED REPRESENTATIONS, THEY HAVE CONTINUED TO FAIL TO DISCLOSE CRITICAL EVIDENCE TO THE DEFENDANT. BRADY AND HARPER ARE SATISFIED DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE IS WARRANTED. COURT ALSO HAS POWER, INHERENT POWER PER STATE VERSUS LA MESA, WHERE DISCOVERY VIOLATIONS INJECT NEEDLESS DELAY INTO THE PROCEEDINGS. COURTS MAY IMPOSE MEANINGFUL SANCTIONS TO EFFECTUATE THEIR INHERENT POWER AND PROMOTE EFFICIENT JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION. THE STATE’S DISCOVERY VIOLATION HAS INJECTED A NEEDLESS, INCURABLE DELAY INTO THE INSTANT JURY TRIAL. DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE IS WARRANTED TO ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND THE EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. YOUR MOTION TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE IS GRANTED. NOW, WITH RESPECT TO THE JURY, I DON’T IMAGINE YOU ALL WANT TO RETURN ON MONDAY. I WILL TAKE CARE OF THE JURY. THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR. WE ARE IN RECESS. I’M GOING TO. ASK ME SOME JUDGE DISMISSAL. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP. STAY WELL. OKAY. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, GUYS, WE’RE RECESS. ALL RIGHT, GET OUT OF THE COURTROOM. YOU’RE WATCHING LIVE IN THE COURTROOM THERE IN SANTA FE. A VERY EMOTIONAL ALEC BALDWIN IN WHAT IS A STUNNING DECISION BY JUDGE MARY MARLOWE. SOMMER RULING THAT BECAUSE THE STATE FAILED TO DISCLOSE CRITICAL INFORMATION TO THE DEFENSE, SHE DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE THE CASE AGAINST THE HOLLYWOOD ACTOR RELATED TO THE SHOOTING ON THE RUST MOVIE SET. BALDWIN WAS FACING CHARGES OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER. WE HAVE HAD REPORTERS ON THIS CASE ALL WEEK, INCLUDING OUR DOUG FERNANDEZ. WE GO LIVE TO SANTA FE NOW WITH DOUG AND OUR LEGAL EXPERT, JOHN DAY. DOUG. GOOD AFTERNOON. JOHN. AS WE JUST HEARD A SHORT TIME AGO, THE JUDGE SAYING DISMISSAL IS THE ONLY FAIR REMEDY IN THIS CASE. THIS CASE UNRAVELED AT SPECTACULARLY FAST WITH ALLEGATIONS OF PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, MISCONDUCT BY THE STATE AND ALEC BALDWIN. TONIGHT IS GOING TO BE A MAN UNBURDENED BY THESE CHARGES. IT’S AN INCREDIBLE DEVELOPMENT. I WAS JUST WATCHING ON YOUR PHONE ALONG WITH YOU AS I WAS STANDING BEFORE THE MICROPHONE, YOU SAID ALEC BALDWIN DROPPED HIS HEAD, KIND OF SHOOK HIS HEAD. YOU COULD SEE THE PEOPLE BEHIND HIM KIND OF CELEBRATING AS MUCH AS YOU CAN INSIDE OF A COURTROOM. OBVIOUSLY, RELIEF ON THE BALDWIN SIDE. YEAH, RELIEF ON BALDWIN’S SIDE. AND THIS RAISES SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE. WHY DID THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO POURED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS INTO A PROSECUTION OF ALEC BALDWIN, ONLY TO END UP WITH THE JUDGE DISMISSING IT WITHOUT PREJUDICE, MEANING IT CANNOT BE REFILED. GAME OVER. ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THE WITHOUT PREJUDICE ADD ON? NOT AT ALL. THE JUDGE WAS ANGRY AT THE PROSECUTION. THE JUDGE WAS ANGRY AT THE WAY THIS WAS HANDLED. AND IN HER MIND, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO FIX A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE. AND ONE OF THE LAST PEOPLE ON THE STAND, IF NOT THE LAST PERSON ON THE STAND, WAS CARRIE MORRISSEY. SURPRISED BY THAT MOVE? THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR WAS TRYING TO SALVAGE HER CASE IN CASE THERE’S AN APPEAL, IN CASE SHE WANTS TO GO UP AND SAY THE JUDGE MADE THE WRONG CALL. SHE WAS TESTIFYING ON HER OWN BEHALF. OBVIOUSLY, IT DIDN’T DO ANY GOOD FOR THIS JUDGE, BUT IT JUST HIGHLIGHTS WHAT A PROBLEM THIS WHOLE CASE WAS AND HOW MANY MISTAKES WERE MADE. AND IT RAISES SOME REALLY SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT ALL THE DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE TO PROSECUTE ALEC BALDWIN. OF COURSE, WE ALL WATCHED A LOT OF LEGAL TV SHOWS AND LEGAL MOVIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE CANNOT BE RETRIED. WHAT IF THEY FIND NEW EVIDENCE THAT WAS NOT PRESENTED AT THIS TRIAL? CAN THAT CHANGE ANYTHING OR NO, THIS CASE IS OVER. ALEC BALDWIN CAN GO HOME AND NOT WORRY ABOUT THIS ANYMORE. AND AND IT WAS A LONG HAUL FOR HIM. VERY EXPENSIVE HAUL FOR THE PEOPLE OF NEW MEXICO. AND AGAIN, THERE ARE GOING TO BE SO MANY QUESTIONS THAT STILL HAVE TO BE ANSWERED. AND ONE OF THE LAST THINGS THAT WAS STATED UP ON THE STAND OR LINDA JOHNSON, REMIND OUR VIEWERS WHO SHE IS, WHAT ROLE SHE PLAYED IN THE CASE AND WHAT SHE DID TODAY. LINDA JOHNSON VERY WELL RESPECTED FORMER PROSECUTOR, US ATTORNEY, ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER. SHE APPARENTLY FOR WHATEVER REASON, TOOK HERSELF OFF THIS CASE, THIS MORNING. I THINK YOU CAN PROBABLY PROBABLY HAVE SOME IDEA THAT SHE MAY HAVE HAD SOME SENSE THAT THIS WAS A VERY THIS WAS LIKE BEING ON THE TITANIC WHEN IT WAS SINKING, AND SHE DID NOT WANT TO BE PART OF THAT. SO THE SECOND PROSECUTOR ON THIS CASE RESIGNED, AND WE HAVEN’T HEARD WHY, BUT SHE MAY HAVE SEEN THE WRITING ON THE WALL A LOT OF LA

A prosecutor asked a New Mexico judge to reconsider the decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie, according to a court filing made public Wednesday.Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said there were insufficient facts to support the July ruling and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case halfway through a trial based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.In the request to reconsider, Morrissey argued again that the undisclosed ammunition was not relevant to the case against Baldwin, which hinged on his responsibility to handle a gun safely under familiar industry guidelines."No one on the prosecution team ... ever intentionally kept evidence from the defendant, it simply didn't occur to the prosecution that the rounds were relevant to the case even if they were the same or similar to the live rounds found on the set of 'Rust,'" Morrissey wrote.She asserted that defense attorneys knew about the rounds but canceled an opportunity to view them prior to trial."This is a smoke screen created by the defense and was intended to sway and confuse the court ... and it was successful," Morrissey wrote.Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas said a response will be filed with the court, without further comment.Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving an 18-month sentence on a conviction for involuntary manslaughter. She was accused of flouting standard safety protocols and missing multiple opportunities to detect forbidden live ammunition on set. Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.It hasn't been officially determined who brought the live rounds that killed Hutchins to the set, though prosecutors allege that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible.The ammunition that skuttled the case was handed over to a Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office crime scene technician who filed the evidence under an unrelated case number. Three of those rounds resembled live rounds that were collected from the "Rust" set after the fatal shooting.The mysterious ammunition was dropped off at the sheriff's office by Troy Teske, of Bullhead City, Arizona, who routinely stored weapons and ammunition for his friend and longtime movie-gun coach Thell Reed — Gutierrez-Reed's stepfather and mentor as a film-set armorer.Morrissey asked the judge to order defense attorneys to show when and how they learned of the ammunition provided by Teske, calling the defense motion to dismiss the case "all a ruse."Attorneys for Baldwin have said he was unaware that live ammunition had been brought to the film set and that prosecutors hid evidence while trying to establish a link between the live ammo on set and Gutierrez-Reed. They said prosecutors wanted to drive home the argument that Baldwin should have recognized the armorer's blundering youth and inexperience.Gutierrez-Reed is seeking the dismissal of her involuntary manslaughter conviction based on the allegations of suppressed evidence that emerged at Baldwin's trial.Separately, Gutierrez-Reed has requested a hearing on a proposal to change her plea to guilty in exchange for a deferred sentence on a felony firearms charge pertaining to accusations that she took a gun into a Santa Fe bar weeks before "Rust" began filming.Under the agreement with prosecutors, Gutierrez-Reed would serve 18 months under supervised probation with the potential for incarceration for probation violations. Terms of probation agreement, if approved, would forbid possession of firearms and the consumption of drugs or alcohol and would require registration in a criminal justice DNA database.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said there were insufficient facts to support the July ruling and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.

State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case halfway through a trial based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."

The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.

In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.

In the request to reconsider, Morrissey argued again that the undisclosed ammunition was not relevant to the case against Baldwin, which hinged on his responsibility to handle a gun safely under familiar industry guidelines.

"No one on the prosecution team ... ever intentionally kept evidence from the defendant, it simply didn't occur to the prosecution that the rounds were relevant to the case even if they were the same or similar to the live rounds found on the set of 'Rust,'" Morrissey wrote.

She asserted that defense attorneys knew about the rounds but canceled an opportunity to view them prior to trial.

"This is a smoke screen created by the defense and was intended to sway and confuse the court ... and it was successful," Morrissey wrote.

Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas said a response will be filed with the court, without further comment.

Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving an 18-month sentence on a conviction for involuntary manslaughter. She was accused of flouting standard safety protocols and missing multiple opportunities to detect forbidden live ammunition on set. Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

It hasn't been officially determined who brought the live rounds that killed Hutchins to the set, though prosecutors allege that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible.

The ammunition that skuttled the case was handed over to a Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office crime scene technician who filed the evidence under an unrelated case number. Three of those rounds resembled live rounds that were collected from the "Rust" set after the fatal shooting.

The mysterious ammunition was dropped off at the sheriff's office by Troy Teske, of Bullhead City, Arizona, who routinely stored weapons and ammunition for his friend and longtime movie-gun coach Thell Reed — Gutierrez-Reed's stepfather and mentor as a film-set armorer.

Morrissey asked the judge to order defense attorneys to show when and how they learned of the ammunition provided by Teske, calling the defense motion to dismiss the case "all a ruse."

Attorneys for Baldwin have said he was unaware that live ammunition had been brought to the film set and that prosecutors hid evidence while trying to establish a link between the live ammo on set and Gutierrez-Reed. They said prosecutors wanted to drive home the argument that Baldwin should have recognized the armorer's blundering youth and inexperience.

Gutierrez-Reed is seeking the dismissal of her involuntary manslaughter conviction based on the allegations of suppressed evidence that emerged at Baldwin's trial.

Separately, Gutierrez-Reed has requested a hearing on a proposal to change her plea to guilty in exchange for a deferred sentence on a felony firearms charge pertaining to accusations that she took a gun into a Santa Fe bar weeks before "Rust" began filming.

Under the agreement with prosecutors, Gutierrez-Reed would serve 18 months under supervised probation with the potential for incarceration for probation violations. Terms of probation agreement, if approved, would forbid possession of firearms and the consumption of drugs or alcohol and would require registration in a criminal justice DNA database.

Prosecutor asks for a charge to be reinstated against Alec Baldwin in the 'Rust' case

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