Six months after actor Alec Baldwin was acquitted of charges related to the “Rust” shooting, he has filed a lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution and defamation by New Mexico prosecutors and law enforcement.
The 73-page civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Santa Fe, New Mexico, names Special Prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey, First District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Deputies and the Commission of the called Santa Fe County. It is alleged that county officials went out of their way to defame Baldwin and that their pursuit of criminal charges against him deprived the actor/producer of his civil rights.
The defendants were “blinded by their desire to convict Alec Baldwin for the wrong reasons and at all costs,” the lawsuit says. “At every turn, the defendants attempted to make Baldwin a scapegoat for the actions and inactions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law.”
According to the lawsuit, Baldwin is seeking unspecified damages, including punitive damages.
“As a direct and proximate result of the defendants' inappropriate and unlawful actions, Baldwin has suffered and continues to suffer significant harm in the past and in the future… including… legal costs, loss of income, severe emotional distress, mental anguish, etc. and embarrassment,” the statement said Suit.
The involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin was dismissed by a judge in July on what was supposed to be the third day of the actor's trial. Instead, defense attorneys raised new questions about how law enforcement officials and prosecutors in New Mexico handled evidence and questioned those who wanted to prosecute Baldwin in the October 2021 death of Halyna Hutchins.
The decision ended a nearly three-year ordeal for the “30 Rock” and “Hunt for Red October” star following on-set tragedy when Baldwin accidentally shot Hutchins, the low-budget Western's cinematographer, during a preliminary run-through of a scene .
Baldwin's lawyers accused the state of wrongdoing, pointing to a batch of untested bullets that a potential witness turned over to sheriff's investigators last March. New Mexico 1st Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer expressed anger over the handling of evidence that was not presented to the defense and dismissed the sole charge against Baldwin.
“Prosecutions should be about the search for truth and justice, not personal or political gain or the harassment of the innocent,” Baldwin attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement. “Kari Morrissey and the other defendants have repeatedly violated this fundamental principle and trampled on the rights of Alec Baldwin.”
The lawsuit said, despite Sommer's dismissal of the case and her harsh criticism of the conduct of the local prosecutor and sheriff's deputies, “This action is necessary to defend Baldwin's rights and prevent the defendants from doing this to anyone else.”
“In October 2023, prosecutors learned that Mr. Baldwin intended to file a civil retaliation lawsuit,” Morrissey said in a statement. “We look forward to our day in court.”
The film's original weapons master, Hannah Gutierrez, was convicted by a jury in March of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins' death.