DA appoints 'Rust' special prosecutors ahead of Friday hearing

Mar. 29—District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced Wednesday she is appointing two special prosecutors in the Rust case.

The appointment of longtime New Mexico attorneys Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis comes just days before a scheduled hearing in First Judicial District Court that would have determined whether Carmack-Altwies or private attorneys would prosecute Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Hollywood star Alec Baldwin. As a result, the hearing originally scheduled for Friday has been canceled, Barry Massey, spokesman for the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, said in an email.

"My responsibility to the people of the First Judicial District is greater than any one case, which is why I have chosen to appoint a special prosecutor in the Rust case. Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis will unflinchingly pursue justice in the death of Halyna Hutchins on behalf of the people of First Judicial District," Carmack-Altwies said in a statement announcing the appointments.

Original special prosecutor state Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, a retired district attorney, stepped down earlier this month after opposing counsel raised the issue of whether she was constitutionally allowed to prosecute a case as a sitting lawmaker.

Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed, the film's armorer, are both being charged with involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins' death, which occurred when the movie Rust was being filmed in October 2021 at a ranch in Santa Fe County. Baldwin was holding a pistol when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

"Kari Morrisey is a very competent attorney and brings a fresh look and balance to this case," Gutierrez-Reed's lawyer, Jason Bowles, said in an email Wednesday afternoon. "We look forward to working with her."

Luke Nikas, one of Baldwin's attorneys, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. The email from the DA's office said Carmack-Altweis and the two private attorneys would not be providing further comment on the appointments.

Carmack-Altwies' decision comes after a string of setbacks for prosecutors. The district attorney initially sought a firearms sentencing enhancement on both defendants that would have meant longer potential prison sentences but had to drop it since the law establishing the enhancement was passed months after the Rust shooting.

In addition to Reeb stepping down, the defense won another victory Monday when state District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said Carmack-Altwies would not be able to prosecute the Rust case herself while also appointing a special prosecutor.