Alec Baldwin sues for malicious prosecution following ‘Rust’ manslaughter trial

nme.com:

Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against the district attorney and other Santa Fe officials, alleging prosecutors “sought at every turn to scapegoat” him.It’s the latest in a series of legal disputes that followed the actor’s involvement in a fatal on-set incident.

On October 21, 2021, Baldwin discharged a revolver used as a prop and was unaware that it had been improperly loaded with live ammunition, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.In a 2023 trial, the 30 Rock actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter in a case which was then dropped and was tried again in 2024.The prosecution intended to show that Baldwin was reckless and criminally negligent when he fired the revolver, but the case was dismissed with prejudice after Baldwin’s lawyers revealed that the prosecution and the local sheriffs had concealed a cache of bullets that was considered evidence.

Consequently, the case against the actor was dismissed last July.Meanwhile, armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison the following month.Late last year, New Mexico prosecutors decided not to pursue an appeal of the court’s decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against him.

At the time, Baldwin’s lawyers, Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas, praised the decision, calling it “the final vindication”.Now, the actor has filed a lawsuit against parties involved in pursuing criminal charges against him, including special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations.Per Variety, the 73-page complaint alleges investigators elicited false testimony and withheld exculpatory.