Prosecutor drops appeal, ending case against Alec Baldwin in "Rust" shooting

New Mexico prosecutors have dropped their appeal, ending an effort to reinstate charges against Alec Baldwin in connection with the fatal shooting on the set of his movie "Rust." 

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew the state's appeal, originally filed in November, on Monday, according to a statement from the First Judicial District Attorney's Office. 

"The appeal would have challenged the Court's dismissal of criminal charges against Producer and Actor, Alec Baldwin which included involuntary manslaughter in the tragic shooting of Cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust on October 21, 2021," the statement said.

The district attorney's office commended Morrissey for her work prosecuting "two cases of such magnitude and national attention, including the successful prosecution against Hannah Gutierrez Reed," the film's armorer, who convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March. The DA's office said it "supports the Hutchins family and their continued fight for justice in civil court."

Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, attorneys representing Baldwin, told CBS News 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."

The decision to drop the appeal solidifies the decision by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer halfway through trial to dismiss the case following allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.

Baldwin's trial was upended by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammo unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers say investigators "buried" the evidence in a separate case file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.

The district attorney's office said that under state law, the New Mexico attorney general would have carried forward the appeal, but "did not intend to exhaustively pursue the appeal on behalf of the prosecution."

"As a result, the State's efforts to continue to litigate the case in a fair and comprehensive manner have been met with multiple barriers that have compromised its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," the local prosecutors said.

At a news conference Tuesday, attorney Gloria Allred, representing Halyna Hutchins' parents and sister, who live in Ukraine, condemned the decision to drop the appeal.

"Even though the criminal justice system and case has now concluded, and Halyna's parents were denied justice in the criminal case, we will continue to fight for justice in our civil lawsuit in New Mexico against Alec Baldwin and the Rust Productions and we will vigorously continue to litigate our case in the civil court in New Mexico," she said.

"We have confidence that a New Mexico jury, if allowed to decide our civil case, would do the right thing and we as their lawyers will do anything and everything that is legally possible and appropriate to win justice for Halyna and her family," Allred said.

Hutchins' sister, in a statement read by Allred in a news conference Tuesday, said, "Mr. Baldwin must be held accountable for my sister's death. He has never contacted our family to apologize or accept any responsibility for my sister's death. We will press forward for a civil lawsuit until there is justice for her loss caused by Mr. Baldwin."

Allred said the dismissal of the criminal case shouldn't hurt the family in civil court, noting the different burdens of proof required in criminal and civil trials. She also noted the civil case is focused on "negligence against Baldwin and the executive producers and crew members involved in the death, which was not part of the criminal case."

"Alec Baldwin said recently that he's looking forward to the truth coming out, so they're looking forward to his testimony under oath as to what his truth fully is," Allred said. "He has not done a deposition under oath and now is able to since what he will testify to now will not criminalize him in New Mexico."

The shooting occurred during a rehearsal on the set of the Western film "Rust," in which Baldwin stars and also served as a producer. Baldwin was holding a prop gun that had been loaded with a live round when it discharged, killing Hutchens and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has maintained he never pulled the gun's trigger and did not know it was loaded with a live round, which is prohibited by both industry and union guidelines.

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was accused of loading the gun, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March. She appealed her conviction after the charges against Baldwin were dismissed, but it was upheld by a judge in September. 

Prosecutors had also accused Gutierrez-Reed of bringing the live rounds onto the set, but defense lawyers argued the film's ammunition supplier was not properly investigated. Guttierez-Reed maintained she did not know how the gun was loaded with live rounds. She was acquitted of evidence tampering in her trial.

David Halls, the film's safety coordinator, pleaded no contest last year to negligent use of a firearm. He completed six months of unsupervised parole.