New Mexico prosecutors will not appeal a court’s decision to dismiss a manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a western, the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office announced Monday.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew an appeal of a July trial decision to dismiss charges against Baldwin in the death of cameraman Halyne Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film’s set rust out of Santa Fe in October 2021.

“Today’s decision to dismiss the appeal is a final confirmation of what Alec Baldwin and his lawyers have been saying from the beginning – this was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” said lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro. “The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico.”

Representatives of the Attorney General were not available for comment.

The decision to drop the appeal reinforces a decision by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer halfway through Baldwin’s trial to dismiss the case over allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.

Baldwin’s trial was complicated by revelations that ammunition was brought to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March by a man who said it could be connected to Hutchins’ murder.

Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and irrelevant, while Baldwin’s attorneys said investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.

The district attorney’s office said that under state law, the New Mexico attorney general would pursue an appeal, but “did not intend to pursue an appeal exhaustively on behalf of the prosecution.”

“As a result, the state’s efforts to continue litigating the case in a fair and comprehensive manner have encountered numerous obstacles that have compromised its ability to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” local prosecutors said.

WATCH | Alec Baldwin broke down in tears when the judge dismissed the charges:

Alec Baldwin broke down in tears when a judge dismissed the charges against him in the Rust murder

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin in New Mexico. His defense attorneys accused Santa Fe police of withholding evidence about the source of the bullet that killed videographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021, failing to identify the bullets in the investigative file on Rust or to notify defense attorneys of their existence.

Baldwin faces several lawsuits

Baldwin, lead actor and co-producer rustpointed a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin said he pulled the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

In April, a judge sentenced gun film supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum sentence of one and a half years in a state penitentiary for the involuntary manslaughter conviction in Hutchins’ death.

Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of inadvertently bringing live ammunition onto the set rustwhere expressly prohibited, and for not following basic gun safety protocols.

Assistant Director and Security Coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A plea of ​​no contest is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

Several civil suits were filed against Baldwin and rust producers, including an appeal from Hutchins’ parents and sister.

Prosecutors said Hutchins’ death prompted scrutiny of safety protocols across the industry, particularly the use of firearms and live ammunition on set.