Alec Baldwin Could Be Back in Court Soon over Fatal "Rust" Shooting

If Alec Baldwin thought he had put his legal woes from the fatal 2021 shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins behind him, the special prosecutor still in charge of the case once again wants the actor to know it ain’t over — at least not yet.

“The State of New Mexico, by and through Special Prosecutor, Kari T. Morrissey, appeals to the New Mexico Court of Appeals from the Court’s Order Granting Defendant Alec Baldwin’s Expedited Motion for Dismissal and Sanctions …filed on July 31, 2024 and from the Court’s Order Denying State’s Amended Motion to Reconsider Dismissal with Prejudice filed on October 24, 2024, copies of which are attached hereto,” declares a one-page notice from Morrissey filed on November 21 and made public Tuesday morning.

While this may be another Hail Mary by Morrissey after repeated rebuffs by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer since dismissing the involuntary manslaughter case against the "30 Rock" star just a few days into his July trial because of evidence suppression, it also once again finds Baldwin under a judicial Sword of Damocles.

Hutchins was killed, and director Souza was injured, on October 21, 2021 after the Colt .45 Baldwin was pointing at the cinematographer fired off a live round during a rehearsal on Rust. 

In cases and tragic circumstances that had more twists and turns than the Rust script itself, both Baldwin and still incarcerated Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

In Baldwin’s case, the initial 2023 charges against him was dropped under clouds of incompetence from local DA Mary Carmack-Altwies’s office. 

As for Gutierrez-Reed, she was sentenced to 18 months in a state prison in April after being found guilty in her own jury trial before Judge Sommer.

The case was refiled in early 2024 as Morrissey and her then co-Special Prosecutor took control of the matter.

Set to star in a TLC reality series of his own with his wife Hilaria and seven young children, Baldwin has always insisted he did not pull the trigger and the gun discharged on its own, had faced up to 18 months in state prison if found guilty. 

The FBI, an independent analysis and the man who actually made the gun all disagreed with Baldwin’s assertion.

Now, even as an eventually finished Rust made its debut at Poland’s Camerimage Film Festival last week, Baldwin still faces nearly a dozen civil suits over the Rust shooting and Hutchins’ death.

Over the years since Hutchins’ death, a range of theories from sabotage to stray ammunition coming from her father and seasoned Hollywood gun coach Thell Reed have been suggested by defense lawyers, various prosecutors, district attorneys and more. 

Despite the trials, the investigations and more, there’s never really been a full and solid explanation for how several live rounds got onto the Bonanza Creek Ranch set of Rust set nor how one of those rounds got in the gun Baldwin was holding.