The four-year saga surrounding actor Alec Baldwin’s accidental shooting incident on a movie set continues.
In October of 2021, Baldwin was filming a Western called Rust and adjusting the positioning of his pistol for cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin’s gun went off killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
The incident was unquestionably an accident. Baldwin had no way of knowing live rounds had been put in the gun. The movie’s armorer is currently in prison for her obvious role in not checking the revolver. The assistant director cut a deal to avoid prison time.
Then, in early 2023, New Mexico prosecutors filed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin. A year later prosecutors dropped the charges. A few months later, the charges were refiled and Baldwin was put on trial to face some serious jail time. But three days later, the judge blistered prosecutors for withholding evidence that might have been exculpatory from the defense. The charges were then dismissed with prejudice, meaning they could not be refiled.
Baldwin and his attorneys later filed a lawsuit against the prosecutors for malicious prosecution.
New Mexico prosecutors “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,” read the suit, adding that the prosecutors “sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law.”
This week the court dismissed Baldwin’s suit with prejudice, which means Baldwin can refile the suit in 30 days, which his attorneys say they intend to do.
The reason the judge threw out the suit was that nothing has happened for 180 days. Baldwin’s lawyers claim that is because they are in settlement discussions with the prosecutors.
I am 100 percent on Baldwin’s side here. He never should have been prosecuted when he had every reason to believe the gun was safe. Prosecutors withholding evidence from the defense should be a crime. He should sue them and keep suing them.
Yet, in my informed opinion, Baldwin lied when he said he never pulled the trigger. It was an outrageous lie proven to be a lie by a forensic examination of the gun. This lie has cost Baldwin dearly. It revealed a craven narcissism that removed all sympathy for his predicament. Now his career is in shambles. But lying isn’t a crime. Being a jerk isn’t a crime. Being a narcissist isn’t a crime. What is a crime is the government’s indefensible behavior.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
