How Baldwin Could Turn The Table On 'Rust' Prosecutors

By Chris Villani · Listen to article

Law360 (July 15, 2024, 6:14 PM EDT) -- The sudden dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin over withheld evidence has left New Mexico state prosecutors not only with a tattered reputation but also potentially facing both bar discipline and civil litigation by the actor, experts told Law360.

A judge tossed the case Friday against Baldwin, who had been accused of inadvertently killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when a live round was loaded into a gun on the set of the movie "Rust."

The case fell apart after Baldwin's lawyers said they discovered that law enforcement and prosecutors shielded evidence that a prop supplier may have been the source of live rounds that ended up on the set.

John Day, a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based criminal defense lawyer and former New Mexico state prosecutor who is not involved in the case, said the number of prosecutorial missteps could warrant some sort of inquiry into what went wrong.

He likened it to a black box recording on an airplane that has crashed and said that Baldwin could go on the offensive after beating the criminal case.

"I would be surprised if he didn't come after the prosecutor, either in a professional responsibility role or in a lawsuit," Day said. "You would imagine Baldwin and his people are prepared to respond with things like disciplinary complaints and possible lawsuits for civil rights violations, government misconduct, and a whole list of claims."

Day said any potential case is made stronger by the fact that First Judicial Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer found that the withholding of evidence in the case was "willful."

"I don't think it's over by a long shot," Day said.

Day noted that prosecutors are immune from suit when they are acting in their prosecutorial role, but may not be immune if they are acting in the role of law enforcement as part of an investigation. Ethical violations are handled by the Disciplinary Board of the New Mexico Supreme Court, and Baldwin and his team or others connected to the case could potentially file a complaint to initiate a disciplinary proceeding, Day said.

After Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer working on the set of "Rust," was convicted, retired police officer Troy Teske told special prosecutor Kari Morrissey about the live rounds in prop supplier Seth Kenney's possession during a pretrial interview in November 2023, according to Baldwin's successful motion to dismiss.

The sheriff's office logged the ammunition as "documented information" rather than physical evidence, then inventoried the rounds "under a different case file so that it would never be disclosed to the defense," according to Baldwin's motion.

Morrissey testified under oath Friday she was unaware that the evidence or report would not be linked to the "Rust" case and also said she determined, based on images of the Kenney ammunition, that the rounds did not appear to match the round fired from Baldwin's gun or those found on the "Rust" set.

In a statement to Law360 Monday, she referenced a civil suit Baldwin planned to file last year on the same day that he would have taken a plea to a lesser charge. She ultimately pulled the deal and secured a grand jury indictment in January.

"We learned in October 2023 that Baldwin intended to file a civil suit so nothing has changed there," Morrissey said Monday. "I believe that I conducted myself ethically and do not expect any findings to the contrary."

California defense attorney Lauren Johnson-Norris of Johnson Criminal Law Group said that Morrissey and the Santa Fe district attorney's office could be exposed to ethical proceedings.

"The question is going to be 'who knew what, and when' in the prosecutor's office," Johnson-Norris said.

When Morrissey took the unusual step of taking the witness stand during Friday's hearing, Baldwin's lawyers also tried to paint her as having a vendetta against the actor, asking whether she had called him a "prick" and other derogatory names.

While Morrissey said she did not recall making the statements, the testimony and the fact that Judge Sommer suggested there were indications of bad faith on the part of prosecutors could play into whether there are any repercussions beyond simply losing in court, said Christopher Melcher of Walzer Melcher LLP.

"Her responses did not outwardly admit making those statements, but she also didn't deny it," Melcher said. "The implication of her responses is that she did make the statements. They were so egregious and outrageous that how could somebody not remember making them?"

He added, "I have to think there is so much damage done to Alec that he will pursue a claim."

Even before it was dismissed, the Baldwin case has been bumpy for the state. Prosecutors dropped the case last year amid reports that the gun could have been modified in a way that allowed it to misfire, only to obtain a grand jury indictment after additional testing showed the gun worked properly.

Baldwin also tried to have the case tossed before trial began over misconduct claims. He said the forensic tests damaged the gun, that the state presented a one-sided case to the grand jury by keeping exculpatory evidence from jurors and interrupting witness testimony that could have been favorable to Baldwin's defense, and that his side never had a chance to examine the gun in its original state.

But Peter Joy, a legal ethics expert at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, said disciplinary authorities rarely go after prosecutors in instances where there have been alleged Brady violations, the name given to situations where evidence is withheld in violation of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland .

"Ethics authorities would say, 'Well, that was a mistake on her part, she overlooked it,'" Joy said. "What often happens is prosecutors develop tunnel vision. She was so convinced [of Baldwin's guilt] and, probably in her mind, she is thinking this is a red herring and has nothing to do with the case. But I think it's negligence."

Joy said one wild card could be special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson, who abruptly stepped down just before the case was tossed. Morrissey said in court that Johnson objected to Friday's hearing being made public, but Johnson subsequently told Law360 that Morrissey's statement about why she resigned was "absolutely not accurate" and that she stepped down because she did not believe the case should go forward.

"She might be privy to some information that might put a different light on this," Joy said.

Neither Johnson nor an attorney for Baldwin responded to comment requests Monday.

The fallout from the end of the case may affect the conviction of Gutierrez-Reed, who is serving an 18-month prison sentence. Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, said that a motion to throw out her conviction would be filed this week "based on numerous evidence failures that have come to light after Hannah's trial and absolute failures by special prosecutor Morrissey."

Regardless of whether the courtroom woes continue to pile up for the prosecution, Johnson-Norris, the Orange County, California, defense attorney, said that this case is "a reputation ruiner for everybody involved in the prosecution case."

Andrew George of Bourelly George & Brodey PLLC predicted that Baldwin will most likely want to move on from the saga and therefore not pursue any civil rights claims, in part due to the broad immunity prosecutors enjoy.

But, for Morrissey and the district attorney's office, the case is a "catastrophe, reputationally," George said.

"What a waste of time, of public resources, of pain for the family of the victim," George said, adding that the office brought much of it on itself.

"Look, they sought the spotlight here. They really did," George said. "There is a very fair argument to make that Alec Baldwin was charged because he is Alec Baldwin. The fact that this became a criminal case at all is something they should take a serious look at in retrospect."

He added, rhetorically, "Was it worth it?"

The state is represented by special prosecutor Kari Morrissey.

Baldwin is represented by Luke Nikas, Alex Spiro, John Bash and Sara C. Clark of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Heather M. LeBlanc of LeBlanc Law.

The case is New Mexico v. Alexander Rae Baldwin, case number D-101-CR-2024-0013, in the First Judicial District Court of Santa Fe County.

--Additional reporting by Phillip Bantz. Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.