Alec Baldwin’s legal team has claimed prosecutors “violated” his constitutional rights in the “Rust” shooting case following the resignation of the case’s special prosecutor and now-New Mexico Rep. Andrea Reeb (R), Deadline reported.
The actor/producer, along with former “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, are facing involuntary manslaughter charges related to the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was shot and killed on set in New Mexico. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The recent court filing from Baldwin’s team arrived as The New York Times revealed that Reeb, who ran a successful campaign last year, wrote to Santa Fe district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies that she’d like to get information out there that she was “assisting” the DA and “it might help” her campaign.
“I am intending to either introduce you or send it in a press release when we get the investigation!” Carmack-Altwies, who appointed Reeb to the position last year, reportedly wrote in response.
“Representative Reeb’s prosecution of this case against Mr. Baldwin to advance her political career is a further abuse of the system and yet another violation of Mr. Baldwin’s constitutional rights,” the defendant wrote in the filing.
The filing, which refers to a number of statements about Baldwin from Reeb and the DA’s office, goes on to claim that the government’s conduct “represented a disregard of its ethical duties, and it has threatened Mr. Baldwin’s right to a fair trial.”
Reeb voluntarily stepped down as special prosecutor on March 14.
Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Reeb’s resignation arrived two weeks prior to a hearing on a disqualification motion from Baldwin, who said her service as both a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives and as a special prosecutor violated a separation-of-powers provision in the state’s constitution.
Baldwin’s team, citing the resignation, withdrew the motion in a court filing on Tuesday.
The DA and the special prosecutor previously withdrew a firearm enhancement charge that came with a mandatory five-year prison sentence.
The filing comes as Reed’s lawyers are reportedly expected to file a motion to dismiss charges against her although an approved motion wouldn’t mean charges are dropped against Baldwin, sources told CNBC.
Baldwin and Reed could face up to 18 months in prison and roughly $5,000 in fines, Deadline noted.
The outlet recently reported that “Rust,” a western set to have its producer Baldwin in its star role, is expected to start production in Montana next month.
HuffPost reached out to Reeb’s office and the DA’s office for comment.