Alec Baldwin is facing a fresh effort to revive the criminal case against him related to the 2021 fatal shooting of the cinematographer on the movie set of Rust.
And, if successful, the actor could face the same 18 month prison sentence that the movie’s armorer was given.
Prosecutors in New Mexico have filed an appeal against the judge’s July decision to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter case.
The one-page notice that went public on Tuesday stated that prosecutors are appealing to the state’s Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling and restart the case.
While it will be months before a decision is made, the specter of Baldwin having to return to court in Santa Fe comes as he is finally attempting to put the 2021 Rust shooting behind him.
The film finally had its premiere at a film festival in Poland over the weekend and this week he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Torino Film Festival in Italy.
Alec Baldwin is facing a fresh effort to revive the criminal case against him related to the fatal shooting of the cinematographer on the movie set of Rust
Baldwin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Torino Film Festival in Italy a week after the movie Rust, where the fatal shooting happened, was aired for the first time
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after being hit by a bullet from the prop gun that Baldwin was handling on the Rust film set in October 2021
The Rust trial was dismissed by the judge after two days when it became clear that prosecutors had not disclosed evidence about the source of the bullets to Baldwin’s lawyers.
In October, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer rejected a request from prosecutors to restart the case.
But now prosecutors are trying to go over her head by appealing the decision.
Baldwin, 66, has always maintained his innocence over the fatal shooting of Hutchins on the set of Rust, an indie Western film.
She was killed after the Colt. 45 handgun Baldwin was using for a rehearsal scene fired a bullet into her at close range, which also injured director Joel Souza.
Prosecutors claimed in court documents that Baldwin cut corners on safety and refused to attend a safety briefing.
Baldwin, seen here outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s offices on the day of the shooting, had charges brought against him twice
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey appealed the judge’s decision to dismiss the criminal case against Baldwin on November 21 and made the filing public on Tuesday
Early next year, Baldwin’s reality TV series about his family life with his wife Hilaria and their seven children is set to air on TLC
Alec Baldwin broke down in tears and hugged his wife Hilaria as his involuntary manslaughter case was sensationally dismissed in July
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with involuntary manslaughter fand was sentenced to 18 months in prison
She was found guilty and is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence.
Speaking in Torino this week, Baldwin called the Rust shooting ‘the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life’.
He said; ‘Beyond the victims themselves, the thing that most pains me is what it did to my wife.
‘We are trying to get the wind in our sails, to get away from this stuff. Because the film doesn’t stand by itself. It’s always going to be overshadowed by this.’
Baldwin said he had not seen the final version of the movie but was glad it was being released.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins circled alongside Alec Baldwin and far-right circled, armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed with the rest of the cast and crew of Rust
Photos taken by detectives with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office show the aftermath of the incident in October 2021
Hutchin’s mother Olga Solovey’s negligence lawsuit is one of four civil cases Baldwin is facing that could go to trial next year
In recent interviews, Souza has said that the scene where Hutchins was killed has been removed from the movie.
Baldwin has been playing Robert F Kennedy Jr on his return to Saturday Night Live and early next year his reality TV series about his family life with his wife Hilaria and their seven children is set to air.
In addition to the potential revival of the criminal case, Baldwin is facing four civil cases, some of which could go to trial next year.
One was a negligence lawsuit from Olga Solovey, Hutchins’s mother, her father Anatolii Androsovych, her sister Svetlana Zemko and script supervisor Mamie Mitchell – who was standing next to Hutchins when she was shot.
Ahead of the Rust premiere, Solovey said in a statement that she would not attend the screening and said Baldwin ‘continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death.
‘Instead, he seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter,’ she added.
Solovey’s lawyer Gloria Allred said in a statement: ‘Alec Baldwin has disrespected Halyna’s mother, father and sister. Even though Mr Baldwin discharged the gun that killed Halyna, he has never called them to apologize.
‘Even worse, he argued, through his attorneys, that Halyna was emotionally distant from her family in Ukraine. That is false, hurtful and insulting.
‘Further, the decision not to even call the family to say he is sorry is cruel and dishonors Halyna and her memory.’
