Santa Fe district attorney stepping away from Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ shooting case

The Santa Fe district attorney on Wednesday said she’ll step away from prosecuting the deadly 2021 shooting on the set of the movie “Rust,” and announced the appointment of two New Mexico attorneys to serve as special prosecutors in the case. 

“My responsibility to the people of the First Judicial District is greater than any one case, which is why I have chosen to appoint a special prosecutor in the ‘Rust’ case,” Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.

Attorneys Kari Morrisey and Jason Lewis were appointed as special prosecutors. Their “extensive experience and trial expertise will allow the state to pursue justice for Halyna Hutchins and ensure that in New Mexico everyone is held accountable under the law,” Carmack-Altwies said. 

Carmack-Altwies’s move to bow out of being co-counsel in the case comes after the special prosecutor previously appointed, state Rep. Andrea Reeb, stepped down after concerns about her serving both as a prosecutor and as a state representative.

Actor Alec Baldwin faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter after authorities said Baldwin fired a live round from a prop gun on the New Mexico set of the film, killing cinematographer Hutchins.

Baldwin told investigators the gun misfired as he handled it, and has pleaded not guilty. The actor’s legal team has maintained that Baldwin had “no reason to believe” there was live ammunition in the prop gun. He and movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was also charged and has also pleaded not guilty, could face 18 months in prison and fines if convicted.