Alec Baldwin files suit for malicious prosecution and defamation

Alec Baldwin filed a lawsuit against the prosecutor who took him to court for Rust tragedy.

In July, the judge dismissed Baldwin's manslaughter case — with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be refiled.

The special prosecutor pushed to appeal the decision, continuing that fight until the end of December. It didn't work; the judges do not like when you commit Brady violations.

It was a funny chase. And, according to Baldwin's recently filed lawsuit, it was deliberately malicious.

Alec Baldwin sues special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and others

In his civil lawsuit, Alec Baldwin accuses several prosecutors and investigators of malicious prosecution and civil rights violations.

He filed the complaint Thursday, Jan. 9, in State District Court in Santa Fe. He specifically names special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and three investigators from the county sheriff's office of Santa Fe and the Board of County Commissioners.

Additionally, his lawsuit includes allegations of defamation. He accuses prosecutors and investigators of intentionally mishandling evidence while pursuing this case against him.

“Defendants sought at every turn to make Baldwin a scapegoat for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of evidence or the law,” Baldwin’s lawsuit alleges.

The filing also accuses prosecutors and investigators of targeting the actor for professional or political purposes.

A celebrity like Alec Baldwin can be a target for ambitious prosecutors who want to get re-elected or become famous. And, because of his passable impressions of disgraced former and future president Donald Trump on Saturday evening liveBaldwin is certainly a target for one certain flavor of political nutcase.

Some believe the lawsuits have distracted from the tragedy of Halyna Hutchins' death.

We should all remember that this all started with a senseless tragedy. In October 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died from a gunshot wound during a rehearsal for the film, Rust.

Alec Baldwin was both the lead actor and co-producer of the film. For his role, he held a revolver – which he said fired without him pulling the trigger.

This sort of thing can happen on film sets, but a series of protective measures must fail catastrophically. In this case, that's exactly what happened.

We're sure Baldwin would have liked an acquittal. Ultimately, most people would prefer that the court declare without question that they are innocent – ​​that the horrific death of a co-worker was a tragic accident and not their fault.

This is not how the trial ended. Instead, the court heard that a man brought ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in March of that year, saying it might be linked to Hutchins' death.

Prosecutors never informed Baldwin's team of this new evidence. Baldwin's lawyers said investigators “buried” the evidence in another file in order to hide it. It's a classic Brady Violationand the judge dismissed the case with prejudice.

Will Alec Baldwin win his case?

To be honest, it's hard to say — just hours after the lawsuit was filed — whether Baldwin will prevail. But civil rights advocates on social media suggested it was a good idea.

Look, one plot people don't like Alec Baldwin. From a voicemail he left for his daughter years ago to his behavior in work environments, he's given people good reasons. But it's hard to see how such an accessory tragedy makes him a killer.

We do not pretend to magically know the motivations of every person involved in their prosecution. But there were red flags long before the court discovered Brady's disclosure violation. We are not lawyers, but at least some parts of the lawsuit could prove to be valid.