Alec Baldwin has sued the New Mexico prosecutors that charged him with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 on the set of the western film “Rust.”
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and investigators in the “Rust” case are named as defendants and are accused of malicious prosecution, defamation and civil rights violations in the lawsuit filed in Santa Fe on Thursday and reported by the Associated Press.
“Defendants, while acting under the color of law, conspired to procure a groundless indictment against Baldwin and to maliciously bring about or advance Baldwin’s trial and conviction, thus violating Baldwin’s constitutional rights by their improper use of the criminal process,” the lawsuit states.
““Defendants sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law,” it continues.
This past October, New Mexico judge upheld the decision to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge made against Baldwin based on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from Baldwin’s attorneys.
The evidence in question was a cache of bullets that had been handed over to investigators and which Baldwin’s attorney’s argued could have provided information as to how live rounds had been present on set and had made it into the gun that Baldwin was holding.
“Criminal prosecutions are supposed to be about the search for truth and justice, not to pursue personal or political gain or harass the innocent,” Baldwin’s attorney’s Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement. “Kari Morrissey and the other defendants violated that basic principle, over and over, and trampled on Alec Baldwin’s rights. We bring this action to hold the defendants accountable for their misconduct and to prevent them from doing this to anyone else.”
