Actor Alec Baldwin believed he was home free. He should be.
But the bruised ego of special prosecutor Kari Morrissey threatens to keep the state’s failed criminal case against Baldwin tied up in appellate courts for years.
Baldwin stood trial in July for involuntary manslaughter in a fatal shooting during filming of a movie near Santa Fe. Morrissey lost the case by failing to turn over certain ballistic evidence to the defense. She said the items in question were irrelevant and no harm was done.
Fellow special prosecutor Erlinda O. Johnson disagreed. In a courageous stand, Johnson wanted the state to move for dismissal of the case.
Rebuffed by Morrissey, Johnson quit the prosecution team in protest. Johnson met the high bar a prosecutor should try to reach. She was more interested in justice than in winning.
District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer of Santa Fe saw the same violations Johnson did. Sommer threw out the manslaughter charge against Baldwin with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.
The judge in a written decision stated Baldwin’s case was tarred by “egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct and false testimony elicited during trial.”
The case of New Mexico v. Alexander Rae Baldwin should have ended at that point. Morrissey instead filed an appeal that is certain to fail.
She is asking the trial judge to overturn her own ruling. Morrissey has a better chance of being elected governor than of convincing Sommer she had it wrong the first time.
After Sommer affirms her decision, Morrissey and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies could challenge the ruling in the state Court of Appeals. That slog through the system wouldn’t necessarily end the case.
The New Mexico Supreme Court would be next in line for appellate litigation. And maybe one side or the other would find an avenue of appeal in the federal system once action in the state courts was exhausted.
Morrissey has nothing more to lose after the humiliation of her case imploding without ever reaching the jury.
New Mexico residents are a different matter. They will continue paying the bills for Morrissey to pursue Baldwin in criminal court.
By and large, the public has had enough of this case. I’m one of many who believe Baldwin was charged and tried because of his celebrity.
His troubles began while filming the Western movie Rust near Santa Fe. The armorer responsible for firearms safety handed Baldwin a pistol she was supposed to have inspected to make sure it was unloaded.
Baldwin took hold of the gun and a live round discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. If an unknown stunt double had pulled the trigger, he would not have been tried for a felony. Only the armorer would have been charged, and the tragedy of Rust would have been a one-day story in the national media.
Baldwin’s fame worked against him. A case with a well-known actor as a defendant was sure to bring international attention to Carmack-Altwies and her prosecutors. That’s exactly what happened.
Morrissey and Carmack-Altwies were featured in the New York Times Magazine just before Baldwin’s trial began. It was one of myriad publications and broadcast outlets to highlight the prosecutors seeking to convict a movie star.
Was Baldwin criminally reckless in the course of his acting? That question would have been contested at trial had the prosecution complied with its requirements to turn over all evidence.
Morrissey is intent on challenging the judge’s decision, but she is an appointee. Carmack-Altwies, elected to run the District Attorney’s office efficiently and fairly, should have stepped in to stop any appeal.
Continuing a proceeding fouled by prosecutorial misconduct will only shortchange victims who are waiting for justice in other cases. In deference to them, Carmack-Altwies should leave the sideline and seize control of the Baldwin case by dropping it, once and forever.
From the start, Baldwin’s case was treated differently from countless others, as Carmack-Altwies obtained special financial appropriations and special prosecutors.
There was one one high point. The armorer in the Rust tragedy, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty by a jury of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. That outcome was just. To be determined is whether prosecutorial failings in Baldwin’s case might jeopardize Gutierrez-Reed’s conviction.
Occupants of old newsrooms used to have a saying when a big case crumbled. “Show me a hero,” they would say.
For all the foul-ups and craving for publicity, the Baldwin case had a hero in Johnson. She was a newcomer to the prosecution staff, hired three months before Baldwin’s trial.
Johnson possesses the competitive trait of all litigators. She wanted to win. Then it became clear the prosecution withheld evidence that might have helped Baldwin’s defense. Johnson tried to right that wrong.
Carmack-Altwies has a chance to do the same by ending an appeal that should never have been filed. She can step up, or she can allow the madness to continue.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
