Update, 12:32 p.m.: Last Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey has failed in her efforts to reopen Alec Baldwin’s now-dismissed manslaughter case, citing the lengthy nature of the complaint she filed.
In fact, it’s 42 pages too long, to be exact, according to New Mexico judicial rules and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. On July 12, Judge Sommer, who dismissed Baldwin’s trial in the 2021 shooting death of Lust cinematographer Halina Hutchins because the state “failed to disclose material evidence to the defendant,” harshly rejected Morrissey’s 52-page attempt to get a do-over.
“Given the procedural circumstances of this case, courts must enforce local rules to regulate the court docket and promote judicial efficiency,” Judge Sommer wrote in his dismissal decision late on Sept. 5, stressing that the filing should have been 10 pages long unless Morrissey had been granted permission for longer, which he did not grant.
Clearly intending to rub salt into the wounds he had inflicted on Morrissey, Judge Sommer also referred to another case involving the same procedural issue.
“A winning argument can fall within the confines of the rules.”
Morrissey is already facing an appeal and release effort by Lust’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who is currently incarcerated for negligence in the Baldwin case, and may have reached the breaking point in his attempt to reset the case dismissal from the actor’s indie western.
Deadline has reached out to Morrissey’s office for comment on Judge Sommer’s latest order and will update this post if we hear back.
Previously, September 5th, afternoon: The special prosecutor in Alec Baldwin’s now-dropped manslaughter case in the 2021 shooting death of Lust cinematographer Halina Hutchins maintains there was “no cover-up” on her part but alleges the actor’s extensive legal team and others may have engaged in some legal maneuvering.
“The defendants failed to adequately prepare for trial and there is no basis for the defense’s argument that they would have acted differently if they had known about the Teske bullets, which they did know about,” Kari Morrissey said, referring to the bullets fired by former Arizona State Trooper Troy Teske at Santa Fe police in recent months.
During a series of court hearings and late-night motions in mid-July, Baldwin’s defense team, led by Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas, argued that they knew about Teske’s shot and alleged wrongdoing.
“This was a smokescreen planted by the defense designed to sway and confuse the court … and it was successful,” Morrissey acknowledged in his Aug. 30 motion to reconsider his motion to dismiss the case, a document that included anything and everything to revive the embarrassingly handled case.
So, despite New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer tossing the case “on appeal” (meaning it cannot be refiled) on the fourth day of Baldwin’s trial, Morrissey is apparently hoping to win another conviction for the multiple Emmy Award winner, either on appeal or otherwise.
Morrissey has also gone on the offensive, wanting to officially know what Baldwin’s defense team, led by Quinn Emanuel, knew about the allegedly suppressed evidence and when they knew it. He also wants to know whether lawyers for convicted Rust gun manufacturer Hannah Gutierrez Reed tipped off Baldwin’s team to the additional live ammunition evidence that suddenly appeared through a close friend of Gutierrez Reed’s father, Thel Reed, a well-known Hollywood gun coach.
Baldwin’s team did not respond to Deadline’s inquiries about this latest filing.
But in the process of trying to free his client, who is serving an 18-month sentence for manslaughter, Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, was quick to deny Morrissey’s latest outrage.
“The court has already determined that the state committed significant discovery violations and deserves to have the charges dismissed,” Bowles told Deadline. “Apparently the only recourse the state has is to blame someone else.”
On October 21, 2021, during rehearsals at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, where an indie western was being filmed, Baldwin fired a live Colt .45 caliber round at the cinematographer, killing Hutchins and wounding the director of the final scene, Joel Souza. Baldwin, who faces up to 18 months in state prison if convicted, has consistently maintained that he cocked the gun but did not pull the trigger, and that the gun fired on its own. The FBI, an independent analysis agency, and the man who actually manufactured the gun have all disagreed with Baldwin’s claims.
Gutierrez Reed, who is currently appealing and seeking to have his case dismissed, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in state prison on April 15. Theories ranging from sabotage to Tell Reed’s ammunition spree have circulated, but there is no full explanation for how multiple live rounds ended up in the already questionable last set, or how one of them ended up in the gun Baldwin was carrying.
Morrissey’s motion to reconsider the dismissal of Baldwin’s lawsuit is full of the same straightforward assertions of conviction that Morrissey clearly had difficulty making during a four-day trial this summer, but it’s equally clear that Morrissey has no intention of changing tactics, even with a Hail Mary move like taking the case back to court.
“There was no cover-up, because there was nothing to hide. Teske turned over live ammunition two and a half years after Ms. Hutchins’ death that had absolutely no bearing on the charges against Mr. Baldwin,” Morrissey said.
She further asserts:
The State argues that there are insufficient facts to support the Court’s finding and that the Defendants’ due process rights were not violated. Specifically, the State argues that while the State may have withheld ammunition from Defendant Baldwin, who knew of the presence of the ammunition and the specific characteristics of the ammunition prior to trial, the ammunition is not favorable to Defendant and is not material to Defendant’s defense. Additionally, the State requests that the Court order the defense to provide an explanation and all documentation as to when and how the defense learned of the Teske ammunition so that the Court may properly consider the prejudice against Defendant and to prepare the record for possible review by a higher court.
Meanwhile, Beetlejuice actor Baldwin has been out and about since his court victory, appearing with his wife Hilaria and their children on a TLC reality show, but he certainly hasn’t forgotten about the incident: last week, the 17-time SNL host showed up to the U.S. Open with his wife, accompanied by his lawyer Nikas.
