A federal judge has thrown out most of the civil rights lawsuit Alec Baldwin filed against the prosecutors who charged him in the Rust case, but a few of his claims are still alive.
U.S. District Judge Kea Riggs ruled on Sept. 30 that special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and the other prosecutors named in the suit have absolute prosecutorial immunity for most of what Baldwin accused them of, Variety reported. She ruled that way even while saying his allegations paint a “very disturbing picture.”
Why Immunity Won Out
Baldwin sued after his criminal trial over the 2021 on-set tragedy that took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins fell apart in July 2024. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the charge mid-trial after learning that evidence had been withheld from the defense.
In his suit, Alec Baldwin said that was part of a bigger pattern, including false information presented to the grand jury, two firearm reports that were never disclosed, and an improper firearm enhancement. Riggs didn’t decide whether any of that happened. Her ruling turned on whether prosecutors can be sued for it, and for conduct tied to their role as advocates, the answer is mostly no.
“Sometimes, it is better to leave unredressed the wrongs done by an allegedly dishonest prosecutor than to subject those who try to do their duty to the constant dread of retaliation,” Riggs wrote. “This is one of those times. The doctrine of absolute prosecutorial immunity is worthwhile only if it applies to hard cases, occasionally shielding acts of gross misconduct.” She added that if the doctrine gave way “whenever a court determined that the conduct was sufficiently distasteful, it would be no doctrine at all,” according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
READ: Olivia Munn Claims Alec Baldwin Got Her Kicked Off 30 Rock Series Before Air
According to The Hollywood Reporter, that immunity covers Morrissey’s alleged withholding of firearm analyses, her failure to disclose other evidence, and testimony she gave at trial. Alec Baldwin had also claimed the prosecutors were trying to make him a scapegoat and pursued the charge for political gain. None of those claims were tested on merits.
The Claims Still Standing
Not everything went away. The state didn’t ask the judge to dismiss claims tied to Morrissey’s statements to the media, or to her alleged agreement to log a cache of ammunition under a separate case number, which Variety‘s account of the ruling describes as “functionally hiding them from the defense.”
“Accordingly, any claims based on these allegations survive this stage of litigation,” Riggs wrote.
That keeps Morrissey in the case as a defendant. Her lawyer, Luis Robles, told Albuquerque station KRQE that his side was “heartened by the decision, dismissing all but three of the claims against Special Prosecutor Morrissey,” according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Baldwin’s separate claims against Santa Fe County and several sheriff’s investigators are still pending, too. Those defendants have filed their own motions to dismiss, and Riggs hasn’t ruled on them yet.
How the Case Got Here
The civil suit has already had a bumpy ride. A state judge dismissed it last year after a long stretch of inactivity, Variety reported. Baldwin refiled, and the case moved to federal court, where the prosecutors brought the immunity motions Riggs just decided.
READ: Alec Baldwin’s Rust Will Be Completed According to Producer
The three prosecutors in the suit are Morrissey, who led the trial; Mary Carmack-Altwies, the Santa Fe district attorney; and Andrea Reeb, the original special prosecutor, who later withdrew. The ruling narrows the fight a lot, but it doesn’t end it.
Should prosecutors keep this kind of immunity, even when a judge calls the allegations disturbing? Sound off and let us know!
UP NEXT: Xbox and PlayStation Console Sales Hit Historic Lows as Prices Climb, Circana Data Shows
