Alec Baldwin Sues Over ‘Rust’ Charges And Civil Rights Violations

Actor Alec Baldwin is suing Santa Fe officials after facing legal action against him for the accidental shooting of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.

The “30 Rock” actor had been filming a scene inside a church when the gun he was holding went off. A live bullet exited the gun, hospitalizing director Joel Souza and killing the beloved cinematographer.

Although armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months behind bars after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, Baldwin’s trial ended after only three days after a judge agreed that the prosecution had withheld evidence from his defense team and dismissed the charges against him with prejudice.

On Thursday, Alec Baldwin filed a lawsuit in the federal court of New Mexico against Santa Fe officials, alleging malicious prosecution and civil rights violations. He accused Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Kari Morrissey of “manipulating evidence” and “eliciting false testimony,” as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

The lawsuit claims that the duo “sought at every turn to scapegoat” him while conspiring to “maliciously bring about or advance Baldwin’s trial and conviction.”

In addition to claiming that they violated his civil rights, Baldwin is also seeking unspecific damages for defamation, malicious abuse of the judicial process, and intentional spoilation of evidence.

Even though Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the trial against the “Beetlejuice” actor in July, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey filed an appeal and tried several times to get the case back into court. If convicted, Alec Baldwin would have faced up to 18 months behind bars for his role in Hutchins’ death.

However, on December 23, a press release revealed that Morrissey had withdrawn the State’s notice of appeal. It stated:

“The Special Prosecutor intended to pursue an appeal of the dismissal, however, the Office of the Attorney General notified the Special Prosecutor that the Attorney General did not intend to exhaustively pursue the appeal on behalf of the prosecution.”

The press release also noted that the State “strongly disagrees” with the court’s decision to dismiss involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor and denied concealing evidence.

In the press release, Kari Morrissey released a statement insisting that the goal of the criminal charges was to get justice for Halyna Hutchins, who left behind a husband and a son. She also left behind a mother, father, and sister, who are all suing “Rust” producers – and Alec Baldwin – in a civil case.

“This has always been about seeking justice for Halyna Hutchins,” Morrisey expressed. “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.”

In their own statement, the “Supercell” actor’s attorneys, Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, said that the “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. The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico,” they added at the time of the press release.

Following his own lawsuit on January 9, Baldwin’s lawyers said in a statement that prosecutions are “supposed to be about the search for truth and justice, not to pursue personal or political gain or harass the innocent.”

They emphasized that Santa Fe officials “violated that basic principle, over and over, and trampled on Alec Baldwin’s rights.”

During an appearance on David Duchovny’s “Fail Better” podcast in December 2024, Baldwin revealed that there was “another phase” to his “Rust” drama but stopped shy of admitting that he was planning on suing Santa Fe officials.

Instead, he said that he wanted to “expose what really happened” on the set of the Western film.

“There’s more to come, but the ‘more to come’ is now my effort, and it’s going to be undeniably a successful effort, to raise and to expose what really happened,” he said. “I was counterpunching. I was on the defensive. I was being accused. I was being indicted.”

“We have more sh-t that’s going to come out in ensuing legal filings and so forth,” Baldwin continued. “There’s so much of this case that is not known because we didn’t have a full trial.”

He said that now that “things are coming back my way,” he feels more confident in bringing out “another phase” of the “Rust” case in the next “couple of months.”