Santa Fe, New Mexico.A lawsuit brought by actor Alec Baldwin alleging civil rights violations and malicious prosecution in connection with the 2021 shooting death of a cameraman on the set of the Western film Rust was dismissed by a judge in New Mexico.
In a decision made public on Wednesday, the judge dismissed the case without prejudice since the claim, which was filed in state district court earlier this year, had not been significantly addressed. Baldwin’s lawyers have thirty days to submit a motion for reinstatement.
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Baldwin’s primary lawyer, Luke Nikas, told The Associated Press via email that his team has been waiting to pursue the case, so the dismissal was essentially a nonevent.
According to him, we have been in sincere talks with the lawsuit’s parties about a settlement, and if those talks are not swiftly and amicably concluded, we will be filing again right away.
Three detectives from the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office and the county board of commissioners are among the defendants, along with Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.
On the grounds that prosecutors and police concealed information from the defense, a case against Baldwin was dropped during the trial last year. The discovery that ammunition had been brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office months prior by a guy who claimed it might be connected to the murder of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins disrupted the trial.
Defamation is one of the accusations in Baldwin’s tort suit; according to his lawyers, the actor and coproducer were singled out by investigators and prosecutors for political or professional reasons.
In October 2021, Hutchins was injured at a movie rehearsal at a ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and he passed away soon after.
Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when it discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. According to Baldwin, the gun shot when he pulled back the hammer but left the trigger unpressed.
At Comic-Con International in San Diego, the actor said he was shocked by what transpired in court that day as the trial ended abruptly and that the past year has been much better than the years before.
Nevertheless, Hutchins’s parents and younger sister are suing Baldwin and other Rust manufacturers in a New Mexico state court. According to court documents, Baldwin’s deposition in that matter was postponed in May and has not yet been rescheduled.
