Alec Baldwin sues for malicious prosecution over Rust manslaughter trial

Alec Baldwin has brought a lawsuit against the district attorney and other officials in Santa Fe, New Mexico alleging he was wrongfully prosecuted for manslaughter.

The 30 Rock actor, 66, stood trial last year over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Western movie Rust.

The case against Baldwin dramatically collapsed in court and was eventually completely dropped.

Baldwin has now filed a complaint, seen by The Independent, which accuses District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Kari Morrissey of a number of abuses, including eliciting false testimony and withholding evidence.

The complaint asserts that Morrissey “wanted to teach Baldwin ‘a lesson’ because she deemed him to be an ‘arrogant prick.’”

It goes on to state that: “Defendants must now be held accountable for their malicious and unlawful pursuit of Baldwin. Although no verdict in this civil case can undo the trauma the State’s threat of conviction and incarceration has inflicted, Alec Baldwin has filed this action to hold Defendants responsible for their appalling violations of the laws that governed their work.”

In December, the case against Baldwin formally came to an end when Morrissey announced that she had withdrawn her appeal of an order that dismissed the case.

“The state’s efforts to continue to litigate the case in a fair and comprehensive manner have been met with multiple barriers that have compromised its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” Morrissey’s statement said.

“This has always been about seeking justice for Halyna Hutchins. We regret that Mr Baldwin will not be held accountable for the role he played in the death of Halyna Hutchins and as we withdraw the appeal, we do so with the hope that the outstanding lawsuits bring some measure of justice to the family of Halyna Hutchins.”

Baldwin’s lawyers, Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas, said in a statement at the time that the collapse of the case against Baldwin was a “vindication”.

“Today’s decision to dismiss the appeal is the final vindication of what Alec Baldwin and his attorneys have said from the beginning — this was an unspeakable tragedy but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” they said. “The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”

The fatal incident that resulted in Hutchins’s death occurred in October 2021, when Baldwin — the lead actor and a co-producer of Rust — pointed a prop gun in Hutchins’s direction during a rehearsal. The gun went off, discharging a real bullet that killed her and wounded director Joel Souza.

Baldwin faced up to 18 months in prison if he was convicted of the involuntary manslaughter charges, though he consistently maintained his innocence leading up to the trial.

However, the case was dismissed in July after it was found that prosecutors had withheld evidence from the defense that could have shown how live rounds got onto the set.