Alec Baldwin’s Lawyers Argue There Is No Reason to Reopen ‘Rust’ Manslaughter Case

Alec Baldwin‘s lawyers argued Friday that there is no reason to reopen his manslaughter case, and that New Mexico should be forced to pay his attorneys’ fees for having to respond to “continued abuse.”

Baldwin’s lawyers also submitted an affidavit from one of the two prosecutors in the “Rust” case, who stated that the other, Kari Morrissey, had told her to ignore a defense request to turn over evidence before the trial.

Baldwin could have faced up to 18 months in prison for negligently shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in 2021. But his trial in Santa Fe, N.M., came to an abrupt halt on July 12, when Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the charge, after it was revealed that the prosecution had failed to turn over a cache of bullets to the defense.

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Morrissey, the lead prosecutor, argued in a motion on Aug. 30 that Marlowe Sommer should reconsider her decision and reinstate the charge. She argued that the defense had successfully confused the judge about the bullets, which she said had no significance to the case and did not undermine Baldwin’s guilt.

After the judge initially rejected the motion due to its length — 52 pages — Morrissey refiled a 10-page version.

Baldwin’s lawyers filed their opposition on Friday, in which they argued that Morrissey had “buried” evidence and lied about it before, during and after the trial.

“The intentional misconduct and fabrications that emerged at trial are consistent with Morrissey’s pattern of withholding evidence and lying about it from virtually the moment she took over this case,” they argued.

They also submitted an affidavit from Erlinda Johnson, Morrissey’s co-counsel, who resigned from the case shortly before it was dismissed. At the time, Morrissey stated that Johnson had stepped aside because she did not want to have a public hearing about the bullet evidence.

In the affidavit, however, Johnson said that was not true. She said that after she learned about the withheld bullets, she urged Morrissey that the “right thing for the state to do” would be to dismiss the case voluntarily, “but Kari Morrissey disagreed.”

Johnson said she resigned because she “felt my ethical obligations were for me to withdraw.”

“I did NOT resign from the case because I did not want a public hearing on the discovery issues,” she wrote.

Before the trial, Baldwin’s lawyers reached out to Johnson to seek documents that had previously been turned over only in heavily redacted form. In her affidavit, Johnson stated that Morrissey told her to ignore the request.

Instead, Johnson said she and a team of investigators reviewed the material and ultimately turned over thousands of pages of material.

Baldwin’s lawyers argued there is no basis to reopen the case, and that Morrissey’s motion should be dismissed for procedural violations or on the merits.

“Finally, the Court should award Baldwin’s attorneys’ fees for having to respond to the State’s defective motion and as a sanction against Morrissey for her continued abuse of the judicial process,” they wrote.

Morrissey has already indicated that the state may appeal the judge’s dismissal to a higher court, assuming the motion to reconsider is denied.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the “Rust” armorer, is serving an 18-month sentence after being convicted at trial in March for loading a live bullet into Baldwin’s gun. She has argued that her case should also be thrown out for similar discovery violations. A hearing on that motion is set for next Thursday.