Court releases records tied to grand jury proceedings in Baldwin case

Mar. 19—State District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who is presiding over actor and film producer Alec Baldwin's criminal case, on Tuesday ordered the public filing of hundreds of pages of records on proceedings leading up to his grand jury indictment, deciding they are no longer confidential now that Baldwin has been charged.

The records, totaling 367 pages that have been entered into Baldwin's online court file, include motions between prosecution and defense attorneys hashing out which evidence would be presented to the grand jury.

Some of the documents were filed into the public record last week by Baldwin's attorneys in a motion asking the court to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge he faces in the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set near Santa Fe.

The defense attorneys argue special prosecutors failed to present evidence to the grand jury that was favorable to the actor.

The documents reveal the sometimes acrimonious relationships among attorneys working on the case, including motions in which each side accuses the other of unethically using news media to garner support for their position.

The records include the state's reply to a motion by the defense asking the court to impose sanctions on special prosecutors but do not appear to contain an order, leaving it unclear whether state District Judge T. Glenn Ellington, who presided over the grand jury proceeding, ruled on the request for sanctions.

Hutchins was struck by a bullet from a .45 Colt revolver Baldwin was holding during a walk-through of a scene on the Rust movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch.

He has been charged in the incident twice, first in January 2023 by District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies. The charge later was dismissed by special prosecutors, who cited the need for more investigation. He was charged again through a grand jury indictment filed in January 2024.

Baldwin, who has said he didn't pull the gun's trigger before it fired the fatal shot, has entered a plea of not guilty and is set to stand trial in July.

A Santa Fe jury recently convicted the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins' death. Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed, whose job was to handle all firearms and ammunition on the set, brought in live ammunition, allowed it to become intermingled with dummy rounds and inadvertently loaded a live bullet into the weapon handled by Baldwin.

Her lawyers filed a motion seeking a new trial last week, arguing a recent New Mexico Supreme Court ruling overturning convictions in another high-profile case on the grounds that the use of the term "and/or" in jury instructions could confuse jurors. The confusing term also was used in instructions for her jury, the defense says.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.