Firearm charge dropped against Alec Baldwin in Rust shooting
Fox News' Matt Finn provides details on the Santa Fe District Attorney's decision to drop the firearm enhancement from the involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin.
The district attorney in the "Rust" case is fighting back against Alec Baldwin's request to disqualify the special prosecutor.
Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charges following the death of Halyna Hutchins. The cinematographer died on Oct. 21, 2021 after a gun Baldwin was holding fired in a small church on Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico.
Baldwin's legal team had asked to have Republican state Rep. Andrea Reeb removed from the case, arguing that Reeb could not simultaneously serve as the special prosecutor and as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives.
However, in new court documents filed Monday and obtained by Fox News Digital, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies claimed the defense's motion has "no support" in New Mexico law.
The prosecution responded to Alec Baldwin's request to disqualify the special prosecutor in new court documents filed March 6. (Getty Images)
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Baldwin's lawyers had written, "Doing so vests two core powers of different branches – legislating and prosecuting – in the same person and is thus barred by the plain language of Article III of the New Mexico Constitution."
The legal team claimed having Reeb serve in both positions could create precedent that distorts the legislative process. Now, the district attorney is pushing back in the March 6 filing.
"Any attempt by Ms. Reeb as a legislator to influence the outcome of this trial would be completely ineffective," the court filing read.
Since joining the legislature in January, Reeb has steered clear of voting on public spending to prosecute Baldwin and film-set weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She was excused from a House floor vote in February on a proposed state budget that includes $360,000 for special prosecution expenses in the fatal film-set shooting.
Prosecution in the death of Hutchins is currently underwritten by the emergency state grant, approved in September 2022 by the State Board of Finance that is led by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Reeb is listed as a sponsor or cosponsor on several criminal justice initiatives, including enhanced punishments for firearms violations, as legislators explore ways to rein in surging violent crime. She previously served as district attorney for a judicial district on the eastern plains of New Mexico.
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Alec Baldwin is seen in Greenwich Village on Jan. 20 after it was announced he would be facing involuntary manslaughter charges. (Getty Images)
Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of Hutchins in January, more than a year after the fatal shooting on the "Rust" film set.
The "30 Rock" actor pleaded not guilty after waiving his first appearance on Feb. 23.
Prosecutors laid out their case against Baldwin in specific detail in the probable cause statement released Jan. 31 and obtained by Fox News Digital.
The DA claimed Baldwin's decision to skip firearms trainings, lack of safety meetings on set and the negligent handling of the firearm prove he acted in a way that endangered others.
Baldwin was previously handed a legal win when the judge chose to drop the firearms enhancement originally brought by the prosecution. The actor's legal team had argued adding the enhancement was unconstitutional because the law had not been created until after the fatal shooting.
Alec Baldwin photographed on the set of "Rust" after the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins. (Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department)
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Legal experts predict Baldwin will push this case to trial now that the enhancement has been dropped.
"I can't see any situation where Baldwin agrees to do time, so unless the district attorney gives him a 'slap on the wrist' type of deal, this case is going to trial," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital.
Attorney James Brosnahan, who represented "The Crow" producers after Brandon Lee was shot and killed on the set, emphasized that Baldwin is likely thinking of his career.
"His career is at the front of his mind," Brosnahan told The Hollywood Reporter. "This isn’t going to end in a plea."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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