Prosecutors dismiss Alec Baldwin charge, citing new evidence- By Morgan Lee And Andrew Dalton Associated Press
Prosecutors have formally dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film "Rust, " citing new evidence and the need for more time to investigate.
In a stunning turnaround for the 65-year-old A-list actor, special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis filed the notice to dismiss the only remaining criminal allegation against Baldwin on Friday in state District Court in Santa Fe. Prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing.
An involuntary manslaughter charge against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the weapons supervisor on the film, is unchanged.
An online status hearing was scheduled for Friday afternoon in state District Court in the case against Gutierrez-Reed. Baldwin's involvement in the hearing was called off with no charge pending against him.
Friday's court filing echoed early statements from prosecutors that new facts had been revealed in the investigation that demand further investigation and forensic analysis, with little time left before evidentiary hearings scheduled to start on May 3.
On Thursday, the special prosecutors said that the "decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled." They have declined further comment.
Los Angeles-based entertainment litigator and defense attorney Kate Mangels, who is not involved in the "Rust" case, said opportunities for further charges against Baldwin are narrowing.
"If they don't have the evidence now, I don't see what evidence they could obtain or that could develop. … It looks like they already had 30 people on a witness list, a cooperative (codefendant) witness, investigations done by various law enforcement agencies. It seems like this has already been pretty well investigated. I can't imagine what would arise to bring new charges."
Lawyers for Baldwin were first to announce that prosecutors were changing course, in a sharp turnaround for the Hollywood luminary who just a few months ago was confronting the possibility of a yearslong prison sentence.
Baldwin was pointing a pistol at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
Baldwin has said the gun fired accidentally and he did not pull the trigger. An FBI forensic report found the weapon could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled, however.
In March, "Rust" safety coordinator and assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to a conviction for unsafe handling of a firearm and a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in further inquiries into the fatal shooting.
A defense attorney for Halls said Friday that he is happy for Baldwin and also wishes the best for the Hutchins family.
"Mr. Halls never believed Mr. Baldwin should be charged with a crime. It was a tragic accident that is best resolved out of criminal court," defense attorney Lisa Torraco said in an email.
When the manslaughter charges were announced in January, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said the case was about equal justice under the law and accountability in Hutchins' death, regardless of the fame or fortune of those involved. She said the Ukrainian-born cinematographer's death was tragic — and preventable.
A new legal team took over prosecution of Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed in late March, after the original special prosecutor appointed in the case resigned.
The dismissal of the charge against Baldwin, also a co-producer on "Rust," abruptly changes the tenor of the investigation, said John Day, a Santa Fe-based criminal defense attorney who is not involved with the case.
"It does give the impression that the people left holding the bag are the lowest people on that chain," Day said.
When word of the dismissal came, Baldwin was at Yellowstone Film Ranch on the set of a rebooted "Rust" production, a representative for Rust Movie Productions said. Preparations for filming were underway at the film's new location in Montana, 18 months after the shooting shut it down.
Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys said they fully expect her to be exonerated in the judicial process.
"The truth about what happened will come out and the questions that we have long sought answers for will be answered," the lawyers, Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion, said in a statement.
Before Friday's dismissal, the case against Baldwin had already been diminishing. In February, a weapons enhancement to the manslaughter charge was dropped, reducing the maximum prison sentence from five years to 18 months.
Baldwin's 40-year career has included the early blockbuster "The Hunt for Red October" and a starring role in the sitcom "30 Rock," as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" and a film adaptation of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross." In recent years he was known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live."
Baldwin has worked little as an actor since the shooting, but hardly went into hiding. He stayed active on social media, making Instagram videos, posting podcast interviews and pictures of his wife and seven children.
Plans to resume filming were outlined last year by the cinematographer's widower, Matthew Hutchins, in a proposed settlement to a wrongful death lawsuit that would make him an executive producer. Souza has said he will return to directing "Rust" to honor the legacy of Halyna Hutchins.
Gloria Allred, attorney for other Hutchins relatives who filed their own lawsuit, and for "Rust" script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who witnessed the shooting and filed the first suit over it, said Friday that her clients will press forward with their civil litigation against Baldwin, regardless of what happens with the criminal charges.
"Mr. Baldwin should know that we remain committed to fighting and winning for our clients and holding him accountable for pointing a loaded gun at Halyna Hutchins, pulling the trigger, and killing her," Allred said in a statement.
Santa Fe National Forest Service officials outlined changed practices for prescribed burns following 2022's historic wildfire - KUNM News
Officials from the Santa Fe National Forest held a live webinar on Facebook Friday to explain how the US Forest Service has changed its practices for prescribed burns.
Last year, the agency paused prescribed burns nationwide for ninety days after two such fires got out of control and became the largest wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history.
Forest Fire Management Officer Terrance Gallegos explained in the webinar that the agency now uses several more elements when deciding whether to conduct a prescribed burn.
Those include consulting drought reports in the local area and having firefighting equipment and personnel within 30 minutes of a planned burn, in case of emergency.
Gallegos also said that rangers must now brief the forest supervisor before any planned burn and show that they have involved the public, private landowners and local entities in planning the fire.
Prescribed burns are designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires by clearing flammable undergrowth in forests. But as climate change makes forests drier, the risks of such burns are higher.
New Mexico investigates more potential abuse, neglect claims- By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
New Mexico officials identified on Friday dozens of cases of potential abuse and neglect after completing wellness checks on thousands of developmentally disabled people around the state.
The state Health Department announced that it has checked on all 6,815 clients receiving services through a wavier program. The wellness checks were prompted by abuse claims that were made public in March and resulted in the state terminating contracts with four providers in the Albuquerque area.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and top health officials had warned that any caregivers who mistreat and abuse developmentally disabled or otherwise vulnerable people would be held accountable. Republican legislative leaders also requested that the federal government investigate, saying an independent inquiry would ensure transparency and might prompt the state to take necessary steps to prevent such cases in the future.
State Health Secretary Patrick Allen said in a statement Friday that in-person visits to developmentally disabled clients over such a short period of time was "a huge and necessary undertaking."
The visits identified a total of 111 sites with possible concerns. Every one of these incidents is being fully investigated, Allen said.
Home repairs and other environmental concerns were found at 50 sites, while 61 site visits resulted in reports of potential abuse, neglect and exploitation.
The governor had announced in March that the state would be embarking on a forensic review of the entire Developmental Disabilities Waiver program, which is meant to offer an alternative to institutional care.
Critics have said the incidents of neglect and abuse seem to be related to system failures of various home and community-based programs that fall under the purview of the Developmental Disabilities Supports Division and Division of Health Improvement, which report to the Health Department.
The Health Department has said it would cooperate with federal officials should they choose to investigate and that the department has contracts with a law firm to recommend improvements in the system.
State officials said anyone found to be in an abusive situation or in danger of immediate harm would be removed and that referrals to law enforcement would be made as appropriate.
Allen said the state has responsibility to make sure developmentally disabled clients are being well cared for.
"Most (developmentally disabled) waiver providers do," he said. "Our job is to make sure that they all do."
Details on the case of abuse that triggered the in-person wellness checks still have not been made public.
The agency released a report in November detailing the work so far, saying the idea was to establish a new tribally led approach to best identify ways to protect the culture of tribes and pueblos throughout the region and consider strategies for securing a sustainable economic future for residents and workers.
The debate over closing off a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius around the park has pitted the Navajo Nation against other tribes in the region. Some Navajos have called for a smaller area to be protected as a way to preserve the royalties and other revenues that some families depend on.
If approved by the Interior Department, the withdrawal would affect only federal land, but critics have argued that the checkerboard nature of landholdings in the region would limit interest in Navajo-controlled lands and those parcels owned by individual Navajo allottees.
Federal officials have billed the Chaco initiative as a novel effort that could provide a roadmap and lessons learned for future collaborations with tribes.
Still, some of the activists who have been pushing for Chaco protections say they feel like momentum has stalled, and they've invited federal officials to visit the region again.
Pueblo preservation experts also are working on finishing a first-of-its-kind ethnographic study of the region that they hope will be used as part of the initiative and in future decision making.
Groups push US land managers for lasting Chaco protections - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Native American activists and environmentalists are pushing the U.S. Interior Department to move ahead with its promise to include tribal perspectives when making management decisions that could affect culturally significant areas beyond the boundaries of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
A coalition of more than 20 groups and individuals sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Wednesday saying oil and gas development in northwestern New Mexico remains a threat and that they want the agency to halt leasing until cumulative effects on cultural resources and the environment can be addressed.
The letter includes recommendations that supporters say would ensure lasting protections for an expansive area around the national park. One includes the creation of a tribal advisory committee and an environmental justice advisory committee with authority to inform resource development on federal lands.
Haaland, who is from Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency, traveled to New Mexico in 2021 to announce the "Honoring Chaco" initiative.
Since then, there have been interviews, planning sessions and meetings with historic preservation experts and others. Now, the groups want to know when the next phase will begin and when changes will start to be made.
"In order to continue to build trust and confidence that this initiative indeed represents a new direction for cultural landscape management in the region, the Department of the Interior must show that it is willing to refrain from taking interim actions that would irreparably harm the landscape and prejudice the selection of lands and resources for protection," the letter reads.
The groups suggest that pausing development is within the agency's authority and would be in line with the Biden administration's policy mandates.
The Interior Department affirmed on Thursday its commitment to the Chaco initiative, saying leaders with the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have been working with tribal preservation officers and tribal groups.
The agency released a report in November detailing the work so far, saying the idea was to establish a new tribally led approach to best identify ways to protect the culture of tribes and pueblos throughout the region and consider strategies for securing a sustainable economic future for residents and workers.
The debate over closing off a 10-mile radius around the park has pitted the Navajo Nation against other tribes in the region. Some Navajos have called for a smaller area to be protected as a way to preserve the royalties and other revenues that some families depend on.
If approved by the Interior Department, the withdrawal would affect only federal land, but critics have argued that the checkerboard nature of landholdings in the region would limit interest in Navajo-controlled lands and those parcels owned by individual Navajo allottees.
Federal officials have billed the Chaco initiative as a novel effort that could provide a roadmap and lessons learned for future collaborations with tribes.
Still, some of the activists who have been pushing for Chaco protections say they feel like momentum has stalled, and they've invited federal officials to visit the region again.
Pueblo preservation experts also are working on finishing a first-of-its-kind ethnographic study of the region that they hope will be used as part of the initiative and in future decision making.
Here’s what to expect at the Rio Grande Compact Commission meeting - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
The annual meeting setting next year’s priorities and reviewing government involvement on the Rio Grande will kick off at 9 a.m. today at the Roundhouse.
It’s New Mexico’s turn to host the yearly meeting where the three compact commissioners from New Mexico, Texas and Colorado discuss the river’s public business as an intergovernmental body.
This includes reports from each state on the condition of the river, a federal presentation on endangered species recovery and the updates on local and federal construction projects.
IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND
The Rio Grande Compact Commission members are:
- Colorado State Engineer Kevin Rein
- New Mexico State Engineer Mike Hamman
- Texas Commissioner Bobby Skov
- The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation holds a non-voting seat and chairs the meeting
The meeting agenda can be foundhere. The meeting will start at 9 a.m. in room 307. Towatch the webinar, you might need the Meeting ID: 296 261 047 715 and passcode: up3KwD.
While this year’swet winter puts the river in a healthier position, there’s still the looming discussions about thepotential settlement to the Rio Grande lawsuit sitting in the U.S. Supreme Court.State Engineer Mike Hamman is also New Mexico’s commissioner on the board. He told Source NM that the state’s legal team will have a small report this year, which is atypical.
Another topic to be discussed will be a review accounting the water released from the Rio Grande between states. After a spill at Elephant Butte in 2011 released water downstream, New Mexico and Texas have disputed how much is owed to the other.
“That has since been rectified, it came out of the goodwill developed during the Texas v. New Mexico negotiations,” Hamman said.
Last year, six New Mexico Pueblos publicly called fora seat at the table of the Rio Grande Compact Commission, asking for future inclusion at meetings and decision making.
The commission was established by the 1938 Rio Grande compact, which split the waters between Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, and was ratified by the states and the federal government.
The compact does recognize treaty obligations between the federal government, Mexico and tribes inArticle 16, but only appoints one voting member from each state government to the Commission.
Hamman will bring the matter up during today’s meeting, he said.
He also expects members of the coalition representing Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sandia and Isleta to attend the meeting and read a letter into the record.
Manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin will be dismissed - By Andrew Dalton And Morgan Lee Associated Press
Prosecutors will dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film " Rust," alluding to new revelations in the investigation while cautioning that Baldwin has not been absolved.
A follow-up investigation will remain active and an involuntary manslaughter charge against Hannah Gutierrez Reed, weapons supervisor on the film, remains unchanged, special prosecutors Kari Morrisey and Jason Lewis said. An online status hearing was scheduled Friday in state District Court for both defendants.
"New facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis," the prosecutors said Thursday in a news release, without elaborating on those facts. "This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled. Our follow-up investigation will remain active and on-going."
Lawyers for Baldwin were first to announce that prosecutors were changing course, in a sharp turnaround for the Hollywood luminary who just a few months ago was confronting the possibility of a yearslong prison sentence.
"We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident," defense attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement.
Baldwin was pointing a pistol at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
Baldwin has said the gun fired accidentally and he did not pull the trigger. An FBI forensic report found the weapon could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled, however.
In March, "Rust" safety coordinator and assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to a conviction for unsafe handling of a firearm and a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in further inquiries into the fatal shooting.
When the manslaughter charges were announced in January, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said the case was about equal justice under the law and accountability in Hutchins' death, regardless of the fame or fortune of those involved. She said the Ukrainian-born cinematographer's death was tragic — and preventable.
A new legal team took over prosecution of Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed in late March, after the original special prosecutor appointed in the case resigned.
The dismissal of the charge against Baldwin, also a coproducer on "Rust," abruptly changes the tenor of the investigation, said John Day, a Santa Fe-based criminal defense attorney who is not involved with the case.
"It does give the impression that the people left holding the bag are the lowest people on that chain," Day said. "This is very different from what the original prosecutor said."
When word of the dismissal came, Baldwin was at Yellowstone Film Ranch on the set of a rebooted "Rust" production. Preparations for filming were underway Thursday at its new location in Montana, 18 months after the shooting shut it down, a representative for Rust Movie Productions said.
Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys said they fully expect her to be exonerated in the judicial process.
"The truth about what happened will come out and the questions that we have long sought answers for will be answered," the lawyers, Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion, said in a statement.
The case against Baldwin had already been diminishing. A weapons charge that could have meant a much longer sentence was dismissed.
The A-list actor's 40-year career has included the early blockbuster "The Hunt for Red October" and a starring role in the sitcom "30 Rock," as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" and a film adaptation of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross." In recent years he was known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live."
The 65-year-old has worked little since the shooting but hardly went into hiding. He stayed active on social media, making Instagram videos, posting podcast interviews and pictures of his wife and seven children.
Plans to resume filming were outlined last year by the cinematographer's widower, Matthew Hutchins, in a proposed settlement to a wrongful death lawsuit that would make him an executive producer. Souza has said he will return to directing "Rust" to honor the legacy of Halyna Hutchins.
Despite the settlement, attorneys for the Hutchins family said they welcomed the criminal charges against Baldwin when they were filed. They had no immediate comment on the pending dismissal Thursday.
After a scathing safety review by regulators in New Mexico that detailed ignored complaints and misfires before Hutchins' death in October 2021, the production company agreed to pay a $100,000 fine.
Baldwin has not traveled to New Mexico to appear in court, which is not required of him under state law. Evidentiary hearings had been scheduled for next month to determine whether to proceed toward trial.
Family of New Mexico man killed by police seek charges - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The family of a man shot and killed by police in northwestern New Mexico after they responded to the wrong address called Thursday for the officers to be charged with murder and the police chief to resign.
Lawyers for the family of Robert Dotson issued a statement outlining their concerns. They accused the Farmington Police Department of "wild use of force," saying there has been a lack of accountability.
"We demand that changes. We want what happened to Robbie to also result in a better community for everyone in Farmington," attorney Shon Northam said in a statement.
The family wants San Juan County's district attorney and New Mexico's attorney general to investigate other alleged excessive-force cases involving the department. They also asked federal prosecutors in a letter sent Thursday to bring charges against the officers involved in Dotson's shooting for civil rights violations.
"He died in his doorway. It was no different than an execution," the letter reads. "The officers did not have probable cause to suspect any crime had occurred at the residence when they entered his gated yard late at night and knocked on his door."
Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe has called the April 5 shooting tragic, saying his agency is trying to understand what happened that night when officers mistakenly approached the Dotson home.
Farmington police said Thursday they are committed to cooperating with the New Mexico State Police as that agency conducts its investigation. "It is important to let the legal process take its course and not draw conclusions before all the facts are known," the department said in a statement.
The three officers involved remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The State Police Investigations Bureau has said it will share its findings with the district attorney once the review is complete.
It remains unclear why the officers responded to the wrong address after getting a domestic violence call from a home across the street.
The case comes amid an ongoing reckoning across the country over use of force by law enforcement officers. Just weeks ago, prosecutors in California charged seven Highway Patrol officers and a nurse with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2020 death of a man who was being restrained following a traffic stop.
Body camera footage released by Farmington police last week showed officers arriving at the home. They walked up to the front door, passing the address that was posted on the home and illuminated by an exterior light. They knocked on the door and announced themselves.
While knocking twice more, the officers can be heard asking a dispatcher to confirm the address and to tell the caller to come to the door. The dispatcher states the address of a home across the street.
Within seconds, Dotson, armed with a handgun, opened the door and the officers immediately began shooting, firing multiple rounds as they backed away. The man can be seen dropping to the ground.
The family's lawyers said footage from the home's doorbell camera shows the officers were smirking and laughing before Dotson opened the door and was blinded by the officers' flashlights.
The video released by police showed a chaotic scene erupting about 4 minutes after officers first arrived at the wrong address. Once the gunfire stopped, sirens could be heard blaring as more officers arrived and Dotson's wife could be heard pleading with officers that her husband had been shot and needed help after realizing they were outside her home.
Additional COVID-19 booster available for people over 65 and with compromised immune systems - KUNM News
The New Mexico Department of Health announced yesterday that people over 65 and those with compromised immune systems are eligible to receive a second shot of the bivalent booster.
The vaccines are available free of charge.
The announcement followed the CDC signing off on the additional boosters earlier this week.
In a statement, Heath Secretary Patrick Allen urged New Mexicans to stay current with their COVID vaccinations.
The statement said that about 20% of people eligible for the Omicron booster have got their first dose of the shot.
People can sign up online at vaccine-N-M-dot-org