The prosecutor in Alec Baldwin's manslaughter case dropped the charges for good this week, but the actor faces continued legal exposure over his role in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer.
The end of the criminal case against Baldwin clears the way for relatives of Halyna Hutchins to sue Baldwin in civil court, a lawyer for the family said.
Baldwin has always denied wrongdoing in accidentally killing Hutchins, who was on the set of Baldwin's Western movie when he shot her with a prop gun in October of 2021.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said she was dropping her appeal this week after New Mexico's attorney general, Democrat Raúl Torrez, signaled he would not commit resources to pursuing the case.
"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," local prosecutors said.
It caps a winding legal saga that saw the charges dropped, then re-filed, only for the judge to dismiss the trial in July on due process grounds.
The Hutchins family is being represented by Gloria Allred, a famous civil rights attorney. She said the family wants Baldwin to answer questions under oath.
"With the withdrawal that was made public yesterday, we are now able to proceed with our civil case,” Allred said. “Clearly, the rights of Alec Baldwin were protected, but the due process rights of the victims — Halyna Hutchins and her parents and her sister — were violated.”
At a press conference on Christmas Eve, Allred blasted Torrez for dropping the appeal and compared him to the "Grinch who stole Christmas."
"It's not over until it's over, and it's not over yet," Allred said. "Although the attorney general of New Mexico, Raúl Torrez, is the Grinch who stole this Christmas, we will work to ensure that a future Christmas will be without this Grinch."
Torrez has blamed local prosecutors for botching the case. He said continuing to pursue the matter is not feasible after the judge's "blistering assessment of the special prosecutor’s gross mishandling of the case at trial.”
"Attorney General Torrez will not prolong the grief and anguish of Ms. Hutchins’ family in the vain attempt to salvage the compromised criminal case against Mr. Baldwin,” spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez said.
“There are other victims’ families in Santa Fe County and across New Mexico who are awaiting justice, and our energy needs to be devoted to supporting those cases on appeal.”
While Baldwin is off the hook for criminal charges, Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving 18 months in prison after she was convicted for involuntary manslaughter.
