Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case is officially over after prosecutors dropped their appeal.
The 68-year-old actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter after a gun he was holding on the set of Rust discharged in October 2021, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza, but his trial collapsed in July after prosecutors allegedly withheld evidence.
A month after special prosecutor Karri Morrissey made a bid to revive the issue, the office of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez announced it had decided not to “pursue the appeal on behalf of the prosecution”. Shortly afterwards, the special prosecutor dropped her bid to overturn Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s decision to throw out the case, Deadline has confirmed. Baldwin’s legal team praised the news.
Lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement: “Today’s decision to dismiss the appeal is the final vindication of what Alec Baldwin and his attorneys have said from the beginning – this was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”