Alec Baldwin told a New Mexico prosecutor and sheriff he may sue them after it emerged they withheld evidence from his defense team during their botched attempt to prosecute him over a fatal shooting on the movie set for "Rust." A judge dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin on the third day of trial, agreeing with his lawyers that prosecutor Kari Morrissey and the sheriff's office concealed evidence about the source of the live round that killed "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. Baldwin's lawyers sent letters to Morrissey and Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza asking them to preserve documents for future litigation, Reuters reports. .
Hutchins died when Baldwin pointed a gun at her as they set up a camera shot on a movie set near Santa Fe. The gun fired a live round inadvertently loaded by the movie's weapons handler Hannah Gutierrez. Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March. Gutierrez, serving an 18-month prison sentence has sought the dismissal of charges due to the failure of prosecutors to disclose evidence on the live rounds, testing of Baldwin's gun by firearms expert Lucien Haag and an interview with the movie's props supplier Seth Kenney. Erlinda Johnson resigned as Morrissey's assistant prosecuting the case shortly before judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed charges against Baldwin. Johnson said that since she was appointed in April, she provided the defense with unredacted documents after they got in touch with her seeking information when Morrissey did not provide documents they requested.
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