As a producer on the project, Baldwin is assumed to have been informed of what was going on.
It was at this point that the plea offer was rescinded, and the case was scheduled for grand jury.
And still Mr. Baldwin complains to this Court that he has been treated unfairly.
The two special prosecutors who have been assigned the prosecution of Mr. Baldwin have experienced near countless lies and manipulation from the defense for more than one year.
Baldwin’s lawyers have no comment Monday on the special prosecutors’ latest filing.
As Baldwin’s case plays out and heads to its own trial, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s incarceration fate is still to be determined.
Declared innocent by the jurors of the evidence tampering charge the Special Prosecutors hit here with last year, Gutierrez-Reed could get a maximum of 18 months in a state prison and be forced to pay thousands in fines.
Rust was resurrected early last year and completed filming in Montana with Baldwin and Souza returning as star/producer and director respectively.
The prosecution claims that despite a string of “misleading statements” and “false” claims from Alec Baldwin’s attorneys in his involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the actor’s “complete lack of concern for the safety of those around him” will never be forgotten.
Baldwin, who was charged again in late January, is scheduled to go on trial in Santa Fe on July 9. If found guilty of killing Hutchins, he could spend up to eighteen months in prison. Attorneys for Baldwin have denounced the case as a “abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person,” despite Baldwin’s not-guilty plea and his insistence that he did not pull the trigger of the Colt .45 that shot Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. They want it dropped right away.
After successfully convicting Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on March 6 of involuntary manslaughter, one of the special prosecutors essentially claims Baldwin is the one abusing the system both on set and in court.
In a harsh response (read it here) to the Emmy-winner’s attorneys latest attempt on March 14 to have his case dismissed and the “false narrative” he has been creating since that tragic October 21, 2021 day, Kari Morrissey writes, “To watch Mr. Baldwin’s conduct on the set of Rust is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct effects those around him.”. Witnesses have stated in court that safety lapses on the set were caused in part by this exact behavior. “.
The day before Hutchins was killed, most of the camera crew left the troubled indie Western set due to financial and safety concerns, and there were multiple unintentional weapon discharges. Baldwin is presumed to have been aware of what was happening since he was the project’s producer. As a seasoned action movie star, Baldwin was also expected to adhere to firearm safety procedures, which, based on his own occasionally contradicting statements, he did not.
In her extensive response, Morrissey affirms that Baldwin was the subject of a secret October 2023 plea agreement until recently. However, she claims that the actor and his lawyers’ repeated actions caused the deal to collapse. Baldwin hosted an MSNBC show for a while, and the defense allegedly leaked the classified information to NBC News with the intention of suing the state of New Mexico and former prosecutors in an effort to “direct media attention away from the plea hearing and toward the frivolous lawsuit.”. “.
In the 32-page response, Morrissey notes that the terms of the deal were strikingly similar to the probationary agreement that Rust first assistant director David Halls had accepted.
Even though this information was upsetting, the undersigned counsel did not feel inclined to withdraw the plea offer because Mr. Baldwin planned to keep using the media as a way to avoid taking responsibility for his actions and because his attorney had blatantly disregarded the private and privileged nature of plea negotiations. The undersigned counsel then learned that Mr. Dot Baldwin was actively pressuring key witnesses in the prosecution against him to participate in interviews for his documentary and that he had commissioned a documentary about the death of the woman he killed. At this point, the grand jury hearing was set, and the plea deal was withdrawn. And still, Mr. Dot Baldwin claims in court that he has received unfair treatment.
In case the aforementioned summary wasn’t direct enough to convey Morrissey’s and her colleague Special Prosecutor Jason Lewis’ opinions of Baldwin, his defense team consisting of attorneys from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan in New York City and LeBlanc Law in Albuquerque, the Special Prosecutor makes it apparent right away how she feels about the move to dismiss the case on March 14.
The facts and circumstances of the case’s history are flagrantly misrepresented in the defendant’s move to dismiss, which is also predictably false, deceptive, and theatrical. For over a year, the defense has subjected the two special prosecutors tasked with prosecuting Mr. Baldwin to close to innumerable lies and deceit. Furthermore, the defendant has been and will undoubtedly continue to be the target of his fabricated and unjustified personal attacks.
The main objective of Mr. Baldwin and his legal team, which currently consists of eight attorneys in total: Alex Spiro (New York), Luke Nikas (New York), John Bash (Texas), Sara Clark (Texas), Michael Nosanchuk (New York), Jennifer Stern (New York), and Stephanie Kelemen (New York). The goal is to avoid having the case heard on its merits and, in the event that it is, to undermine the prosecution, the investigation, and the witnesses in the media in order to make a conviction seem unlikely for reasons unrelated to Mr. Baldwin’s criminal culpability. The special prosecutors are responsible for conducting an investigation into the case and pursuing a fair and impartial prosecution. Despite the defendant’s persistent efforts to undermine and threaten the prosecution and the brave witnesses who are still actively involved in the fight for justice for Halyna Hutchins and her family, we will not back down from this task.
Regarding the latest filing by the special prosecutors, Baldwin’s attorneys remained silent on Monday.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s fate in jail remains unknown while Baldwin’s case progresses and moves toward a separate trial.
Seen as soon as possible on March 6, Gutierrez-Reed was apprehensive and will be sentenced on April 15 after being denied release by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on March 29. After being found not guilty of the evidence tampering charge the Special Prosecutors brought against him last year, Gutierrez-Reed faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in state prison and a hefty fine.
Baldwin is facing about six civil cases in California and New Mexico courts pertaining to the fatal Rust shooting after being charged with involuntary manslaughter in January and entering a not guilty plea shortly after.
Early in the new year, Rust was brought back to life, and filming in Montana was finished with Baldwin and Souza reprising their roles as director and star, respectively. Rust, which has been finished for months, has not yet been purchased.
