Santa Fe Officers Could Have Spent Over $900K Attempting To Get Alec Baldwin Behind Bars For 'Rust' Taking pictures

In October 2021, Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when a gun that he was holding on the set of the Western movie “Rust” went off.

He was charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023, however these costs had been eliminated in April 2023 pending additional investigation into the gun used within the capturing, which can have malfunctioned. After an FBI forensics report concluded that the set off needed to be pulled for the gun to fireplace, costs had been refiled in January 2024 and the trial began in July 2024.

Nevertheless, that trial lasted solely three days after a witness testified that the prosecution had labored with legislation enforcement officers to place proof turned over after armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed‘s trial beneath a separate case quantity. The decide decided it was a violation of the Brady rule and dismissed the costs towards Baldwin with prejudice, that means he’s not going through the specter of jail time for his position in Hutchins’ loss of life.

In response to a request submitted by The New Mexican on December 2, Santa Fe officers lastly revealed on January 16 that the First Judicial District Lawyer’s Workplace spent about $898,000 prosecuting circumstances associated to the “Rust” capturing in October 2021.

Nevertheless, it’s unclear if that quantity was the ultimate whole and the District Lawyer’s Workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark from The Blast.

It has been tough to determine the true price of the trials. Public data present that District Lawyer Mary Carmack-Altwies obtained greater than $600,000 in state funding to prosecute each armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Alec Baldwin for his or her roles in Hutchins’ loss of life.

In a response from The New Mexican in June 2024, Nathan Lederman, who was the spokesperson for the District Lawyer’s Workplace on the time, mentioned that nearly $760,000 had been “paid out as of July 1” to prosecute each Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Alec Baldwin. Nevertheless, Baldwin’s trial didn’t begin till later that month and doesn’t embody the work that particular prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey or former particular prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson did on his trial.

Morrissey, particularly, continued to pursue Baldwin even after the trial was over. She filed an attraction, attempting to get the decide to alter her thoughts and pursue costs towards Baldwin as soon as extra. One submitting needed to be resubmitted as a result of the decide decided it was too lengthy. Nevertheless, Morrissey dropped her attraction simply earlier than Christmas, ending the prospect that Baldwin would face jail time.

In accordance with a spreadsheet from the District Lawyer’s Workplace, the overall funds of the “Rust” prosecution was $898,260. This consists of invoices submitted by Morrissey in each November 2024 and January 2025. Nevertheless, The New Mexican obtained partial invoices from work that Morrissey did in September and October, together with motions the place the prosecutor requested the decide repeatedly to rethink opening the case towards Baldwin.

In accordance with their estimations, the true whole of the “Rust” prosecution exceeds $911,000, though this quantity has not been confirmed by the District Lawyer’s Workplace. A letter from Deputy District Lawyer Jennifer Padgett Macias signifies that some data wouldn’t be made public as a result of they comprise “work product,” which suggests the general public could by no means learn of the true price of Santa Fe officers’ makes an attempt to prosecute Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Alec Baldwin.

Along with paying the prosecutors for his or her work, the District Lawyer’s Workplace additionally spent that cash doing testing on the gun that was used within the “Rust” capturing. Actually, officers really flew Italian gun producer Alessandro Pietta to New Mexico to ensure that him to testify that the gun was in good working situation when it left his manufacturing facility.

The New Mexican had requested for a separate bill to see how a lot the State spent on his lodging, journey, and look prices, however a data custodian for the District Lawyer’s Workplace claimed that that they had no data for that request.

One of many greatest questions from the trial was how stay ammunition ended up on the set of a Western movie. Though they spent round $900,000 investigating the case, Santa Fe officers shouldn’t have a solution to that query. Nevertheless, the police report obtained by The Blast exhibits that the unbiased Western movie spent hundreds on ammunition.

The police report incorporates receipts from PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC. In Albuquerque, New Mexico. One bill incorporates listings for holsters, which amounted to $3,465.00 after a big low cost. One other bill for dummy rounds and clean ammunition resulted in $5,919.64.

A separate $30.21 rental type for prop dummy rounds proceeded a whopping $12,881.73 bill that was for gun luggage, engraved rifles, and extra ammunition. The date of this bill was October 17, 2021, only some days earlier than Halyna Hutchins handed away at UNM Hospital on October 21 on the age of 42, abandoning a husband, Matthew Hutchins, and a younger son.