Baldwin team files motion
Lawyers for actor Alec Baldwin filed a motion Tuesday seeking to disqualify the special prosecutor who was part of the team that brought involuntary manslaughter charges against him for the fatal shooting of the cinematographer on the “Rust” movie set.
The motion, filed in the 1st Judicial District Court of New Mexico, argues that Andrea Reeb’s role as special prosecutor violates the New Mexico Constitution because she is also an elected member of the state’s House of Representatives.
Mary Carmack-altwies, the Santa Fe County district attorney, appointed Reeb to help her prosecute the case.
“Representative Reeb is not constitutionally permitted to serve simultaneously as a legislator and a special prosecutor,” a lawyer for Baldwin, Luke Nikas, wrote in the motion.
The filing is the first substantive legal response by Baldwin’s team since he and Hannah Gutierrezreed, the film’s armorer, were charged last month. Prosecutors accused them of failing to follow standard film safety protocols on set before cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed.
Reeb was district attorney for the 9th Judicial District in New Mexico before resigning in March 2022. She was named special prosecutor for the “Rust” investigation in August — two months after securing the Republican nomination for the state House — and was elected to the Legislature in November.
Carmack-altwies, a Democrat, wrote to state officials last year that her office needed to hire an “additional, more qualified attorney to assist in the prosecution of this matter.”
In a statement, Heather Brewer, a spokesperson for the prosecutors, said Baldwin and his lawyers could “use whatever tactics they want to distract from the fact that Halyna Hutchins died because of gross negligence and a reckless disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set.”
The fatal shooting of Hutchins, on Oct. 21, 2021, occurred when the film crew was setting up a tight shot of Baldwin drawing an old-fashioned revolver from his holster before a gunfight.
In his filing, Nikas argued that Reeb’s double role could lead to unethical behavior, such as future prosecutors’ seeking to “curry favor” with legislators — who control their budgets — by offering them positions as prosecutors on high-profile cases.