Judge dismisses Alec Baldwin lawsuit against prosecutors in ‘Rust’ case

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A judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit Alec Baldwin filed against New Mexico public officials for allegedly mishandling the “Rust” shooting investigation, as the actor’s attorneys pursue a settlement.

Court records show the New Mexico suit was dropped Tuesday because of inactivity, but Baldwin’s attorneys can seek reinstatement of the lawsuit within 30 days.

Baldwin’s lawyer Luke Nikas characterized the dismissal as a “nonevent” in a statement to The Washington Post: “The court dismissed the matter without prejudice because we have been waiting to prosecute the case,” Nikas said. “We have been in good-faith settlement discussions with the parties to the lawsuit and will be refiling promptly if those discussions are not promptly and favourably resolved.”

Baldwin filed suit against New Mexico prosecutors and other authorities in January, months after a judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against the Emmy-winning actor, ruling that prosecutors withheld potential evidence. Baldwin’s lawsuit accused authorities of violating his rights and defaming him by mishandling the investigation of a 2021 fatal shooting on the set of Baldwin’s low-budget western movie “Rust.”

Baldwin, a producer and star of the film, was rehearsing when a prop revolver in his hand discharged a live bullet, killing the movie’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounding its director, Joel Souza. Baldwin consistently denied responsibility for making sure the gun was safe and denied pulling the gun’s trigger, but he nevertheless became a focus of the investigation.

Baldwin’s prosecution was messy from the get-go. He was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2023. Those charges were later downgraded, then dropped entirely in April 2023. But Baldwin was charged once again in January 2024.

A judge abruptly threw out the case for good last year, ruling that Baldwin could not be retried because prosecutors failed to properly inform defence lawyers of live ammunition brought to the county sheriff’s office that may have been connected to the shooting. The government had more success prosecuting Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armourer, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 18 months in prison, and released on parole in May.

Defendants in Baldwin’s lawsuit include the “Rust” case’s special prosecutor, Kari T. Morrissey, as well as District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who first brought the charges against Baldwin; and former district attorney Andrea Reeb, who resigned from the case after Baldwin’s lawyers called her participation unconstitutional as she served as a state representative. Investigators from the Santa Fe County’s Sheriff’s Office and the board of county commissioners were also named defendants.

In the complaint, Baldwin alleged that “in carrying out their conspiracy, Defendants were driven by ill motives and to accomplish illegitimate ends, including to harass or ‘humble’ Baldwin, to promote their political agendas (in the case of Defendants Carmack-Altwies and Reeb), or to further their own personal agendas or professional ambitions.”

The district attorney’s office, Reeb and the sheriff’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.