Special prosecutor withdraws appeal of court's decision to find actor Baldwin not guilty

The New Mexico prosecutor's office will not appeal a court's decision to dismiss manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin, who shot a cameraman on a movie set. The Associated Press (AP) reported Dec. 24.

"Today's decision to dismiss the appeal is a final confirmation of what Alec Baldwin and his lawyers have said all along: this was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. The rule of law remains inviolate in New Mexico," said defense attorneys Luke Nickas and Alex Spiro.

Thus, special prosecutor Kari Morrison withdrew the appeal of the July court decision to dismiss the charges against Baldwin in the death of cameraman Galina Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set of the movie "Rust" in October 2021.

Earlier, on October 1, a court in the US state of New Mexico upheld the conviction of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the person in charge of weapons on the set of the film "Rust", on charges of manslaughter on set. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison for mistakenly loading actor Alec Baldwin's gun with a real bullet.

Prior to that, on July 13, the court dismissed the manslaughter case against Baldwin due to the prosecution's suppression of evidence. It was noted that in the case there were significant violations related to physical evidence. During the announcement of the court's decision, the actor, who was also facing 18 months in prison, did not hold back tears.

Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of the same charge in March. She was sentenced in April. The prosecutor in the case emphasized at the trial that the operator's death was caused by "negligence and carelessness," and the tragedy was caused by storing real live bullets and blank dummy bullets in the same place.

In October 2021, Baldwin was using an antique revolver during a dress rehearsal for a scene in the western "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe County. When the actor fired, the movie's cameraman, Galina Hutchins, suffered non-life-compatible injuries and director Joel Souza was wounded.

On January 31, 2023, Santa Fe County, New Mexico prosecutor Mary Carmack-Oltvis charged Baldwin with manslaughter. According to the state prosecution, Baldwin should have been more responsibly prepared to use a gun in the shooting and should have made sure the revolver was not loaded beforehand and should have taken all safety precautions.