Prosecutor in Alec Baldwin “Rust ”Trial Asks Judge Who Dismissed the Case to Reconsider
The actor's involuntary manslaughter case was dismissed with prejudice on July 12
A prosecutor from Alec Baldwin's Rust trial is asking the judge who dismissed the case to reconsider.
According to a motion dated Aug. 30 filed in court and obtained by PEOPLE, New Mexico special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey requested that Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer — who dropped the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin on July 12, the third day of Baldwin's trial — reevaluate the decision.
Baldwin, who was indicted by a grand jury in January, was rehearsing a scene on the set of the movie Rust on Oct. 21, 2021 when the prop gun he was holding discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. The actor has said he did not pull the trigger of the gun or know why it contained live ammunition.
On July 12, before the jury was brought back into the courtroom, Baldwin's attorney Luke Nikas claimed a man named Troy Teske — a friend of Thell Reed, the father of convicted Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter — had turned over ammunition to authorities he thought was connected to the case.
The ammunition wasn't included in the shooting evidence, they argued. “We’re talking about a prosecution that didn’t preserve those bullets, that didn’t collect them at all. That didn’t turn them over,” Nikas said during the trial.
“This is critical evidence in the case that was never disclosed to us… We were entitled to it,” he added. “This case should be dismissed.”
At the time, Morrissey called herself to testify under oath and explained why she didn’t think the ammunition handed over was considered Rust evidence. Per Corporal Alexandria Hancock of the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office, Morrissey had previously been involved in talks to file the ammunition separately from the other Rust evidence.
Judge Sommer issued her ruling shortly after Morrissey left the witness stand, revealing her decision to dismiss the case with prejudice.
Morissey's latest First Judicial District Court of New Mexico documents reiterated, "The State asserts that there were insufficient facts to support the Court's ruling and there was no violation of the Defendant's due process rights."
"Specifically, the State asserts that, while the State may have suppressed the ammunition from Defendant Baldwin, the Defendant was aware of the existence of the ammunition and the specific characteristics of the ammunition prior to trial, the ammunition is not favorable to the defendant and is not material to his defense," the documents added.
After July's decision was announced, Baldwin and his wife Hilaria cried in the courtroom. A source told PEOPLE at the time that they were "relieved that it's over." Added that source, "It's been a sad situation, and there is no winning here. They didn't celebrate."
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