The involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin over the 2021 death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been dismissed, but the actor isn’t able to put all the legal proceedings behind him just yet.
While a New Mexico judge dismissed the case after determining that the state withheld key evidence from Baldwin’s defense, the actor still faces civil lawsuits from Hutchins’ family.
Gloria Allred, an attorney representing Hutchins’ parents and sister, said the judge’s decision was “in no way, shape, or form an exoneration of him,” and vowed “to fight to the end for Halyna Hutchins,” Variety reported.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Allred said the judge’s decision did “not change the fact that Alec Baldwin killed Halyna Hutchins on the set of ‘Rust.'”
“It does not change the fact that he fired a loaded gun while pointing it at a human being,” she added.
Representatives for Baldwin did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
It seems the “30 Rock” star is also considering taking his own legal action, informing a New Mexico state prosecutor and sheriff he may sue them over the withheld evidence in the involuntary manslaughter case.
Baldwin’s lawyers have sent letters to New Mexico prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza asking them to preserve documents for future litigation, according to Reuters.
Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of “Rust” in October 2021 after a prop revolver that Baldwin was holding fired during a rehearsal for the Western movie.
The film’s director, Joel Souza, was also wounded in the incident.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the film’s prop weapons, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and was later sentenced to 18 months in prison.
On Tuesday, Gutierrez-Reed filed a motion to dismiss her conviction after the involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin were dropped.
Baldwin’s lawyers have maintained that the actor wasn’t aware that the gun contained a live round.
Baldwin also said in 2021 that he did not pull the trigger on the gun, but according to an FBI report, it could not have been discharged if the trigger was not pulled.
In a statement to NPR in 2022, a lawyer for Baldwin said the FBI’s report was “misconstrued” and that the gun was in “poor condition.”
Ramsay de Give-Pool/Getty Images
The hidden evidence at the heart of Baldwin’s trial related to ammunition that his lawyers said prosecutors did not disclose and put under a different case number, The New York Times reported.
While prosecutor Morrissey said the ammunition had “no evidentiary value whatsoever,” the judge found that it could have explained how live ammo ended up on the set of the movie.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said during her ruling, per The Times.
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