Alec Baldwin to sue New Mexico prosecutor, sheriff over withholding evidence during Rust involuntary manslaughter trial: report

After having his involuntary manslaughter case dismissed, Alec Baldwin has signaled that he may sue those who oversaw the withholding of evidence that led Judge Mary Marlow Sommer to cut the trial short. Prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza were accused of failing to share with them the existence of bullets that Sommer later deemed should have been entered into evidence.

Earlier this week, the actor's lawyers sent letters to the pair asking that they hold on to documents related to the matter. As Reuters reports, the reason behind the request was to ensure that nothing was missing should "further litigation" be undertaken.



According to the outlet, while the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office confirmed that it had, in fact, received the letter from Baldwin's lawyers, Morrissey did not comment one way or the other. Whether a lawsuit is filed against one, or both of the parties in question remains to be seen.

The missing evidence was about the source of the rounds in the shooting submitted by Troy Teske, a claimed friend of the step-father of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the Rust set armorer who is currently serving 18 months for her role in handling the gun which Baldwin fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Teske had handed the rounds to the sheriff's office shortly after the shooting took place, however it was filed under a different case number by the crime scene technician. Morrissey said she saw a photo of the ammunition and decided not to enter it into evidence as it did not resemble that used on set. Sommer disagreed, noting that at least one round looked similar to those fired by Baldwin.

In an interview with Reuters, former assistant prosecuting attorney Erlinda Johnson said she had given the defense other documents when Morrissey refused to hand them over, however she only learned of the ammunition when the rest of the court did. She resigned shortly before Sommer announced her ruling.

"As prosecutors we have obligations to disclose all the evidence," she told the outlet. "We not only owe a duty to the people, but to the defendants accused of crimes as well."