SANTA FE, N.M. – Actor Alec Baldwin has filed a civil action alleging civil rights violations and malicious prosecution in connection with the shooting death of a cameraman on the Rust film set in the West.
The case was submitted on Thursday to the Santa Fe state district court, where a judge dropped Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter accusation in July for the murder of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
In the lawsuit, Baldwin also claims slander, claiming that investigators and prosecutors purposefully mistreated evidence in pursuing the case.
Along with three detectives from the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office and the county board of commissioners, the complaint names Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Kari Morrissey as defendants.
According to the case, defendants made every effort to blame Baldwin for the deeds and inactions of others, ignoring the law and the available facts. Additionally, it claims that Baldwin was singled out by investigators and prosecutors for political or professional reasons.
In October 2021, Hutchins was injured during a Rust movie rehearsal at a ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and he passed away soon after.
The principal actor and co-producer, Baldwin, was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when it went off, wounding director Joel Souza and murdering Hutchins. According to Baldwin, the gun shot when he pulled back the hammer but left the trigger unpressed.
The discovery that ammo was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it might be connected to Hutchins’ murder upended Baldwin’s trial. Baldwin’s attorneys claim investigators concealed the evidence in a different case folder and successfully filed a motion to dismiss, while prosecutors maintained they considered the ammunition irrelevant and unconnected.
Morrissey claimed to have discovered that Baldwin was thinking about filing a lawsuit over a year ago.
She told The Associated Press in a text message Thursday that the prosecution team learned in October 2023 that Mr. Baldwin planned to bring a retaliatory civil complaint. We eagerly await our court appearance.
Requests for comment from Carmack-Altwies and the Santa Fe sheriff’s office were not immediately answered. Prosecutors shouldn’t be granted immunity in their official capacities, according to Baldwin’s lawsuit.
The case was closed in December when the state attorney general decided not to continue and appeal the dismissal on behalf of the prosecutors.
Separately, movie weapons supervisor Hanna Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter at trial last year as a result of the incident. She is incarcerated at a state prison for a maximum sentence of 1 1/2 years.
Baldwin’s tort action, which seeks unspecified punitive damages, compensatory damages, attorneys’ costs, and interest, also targets the special prosecutor who initially oversaw the inquiry.
Even though Baldwin has resumed his comedic Saturday Night Live appearances and has plans to host a family reality TV program with his wife Hilaria and seven children, it adds to the already overwhelming amount of post-trial litigation.
In a New Mexico state court, Hutchins’ parents and younger sister have filed a lawsuit against Baldwin and other Rust producers. The son and widower of Hutchins have struck a settlement in their case.