This request comes in the wake of the surprising decision to drop the trial last July.
The decision
Kari Morrissey, the New Mexico prosecutor in charge of Alec Baldwin’s trial, has asked the judge to reconsider her decision to drop the criminal case against the actor. She argues that the reasons that led to the unexpected abandonment of the trial in July are not justified.
Discovery of evidence
This request comes after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the trial with prejudice in July, following the discovery of evidence that had not been disclosed to the defense.
Deliberately concealed?
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s decision last July was prompted by the revelation that evidence had been deliberately withheld from the defense, according to Baldwin’s lawyers.
Impossible
This decision has major consequences, as it prohibits the filing of new charges against the actor, making it impossible to hold a new trial without new charges.
No connection
For her part, the prosecutor has rejected any malicious intent and now asserts before the judge that the evidence withheld – ammunition turned over to the sheriff’s office last March, shortly after the trial of Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the Rust gunsmith currently sentenced to 18 months in prison for manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, ended – had no connection with the ammunition used on set at the time of the incident.
Manslaughter
It should be remembered that Alec Baldwin was charged with manslaughter following the death of Halyna Hutchins, when a revolver Baldwin was holding discharged during a rehearsal. Baldwin has since claimed that he didn’t pull the trigger, but simply pulled the hammer back, which would have triggered the shot.
Crucial evidence
During her trial this summer, the case came to an unexpected end when, during witness testimony, it was revealed that ammunition had been delivered to the New Mexico Sheriff’s Office by Troy Teske, a friend of Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s father-in-law. The judge ultimately concluded that the prosecution had omitted crucial evidence and that it was impossible for the court to correct this error.
Involuntary
The prosecutor wishes to convince the judge that this oversight was unintentional.
Resignation
His co-prosecutor, who resigned after this surprising discovery during Baldwin’s trial, also shares this sentiment, claiming that it was not a deliberate act.