Halyna Hutchins' Family Breaks Silence After 'Rust' Prosecutor Drops Alec Baldwin Appeal

On December 23, "Rust" prosecutor Kari Morrissey withdrew her notice of appeal against actor Alec Baldwin following his highly publicized trial that ended suddenly in July.

Judge Mary Marlowe ended the trial on the third day of witness testimony after concluding that the prosecution failed to disclose evidence to the defense. Although Morrissey filed an appeal in an attempt to take the "30 Rock" actor back to court, she withdrew her appeal on December 23.

On December 23, a press release announced that Morrissey had withdrawn the State's notice of appeal, which she had initially filed on November 21.

The press release states that "The Special Prosecutor intended to pursue an appeal of the dismissal, however, the Office of the Attorney General notified the Special Prosecutor that the Attorney General did not intend to exhaustively pursue the appeal on behalf of the prosecution.”

It goes on to say that the State “strongly disagrees” with the court’s decision to dismiss criminal charges against Baldwin and denies concealing evidence.

“This has always been about seeking justice for Halyna Hutchins," Morrisey said in a statement, per the release. "We regret that Mr. Baldwin will not be held accountable for the role he played in the death of Halyna Hutchins and as we withdraw the appeal, we do so with the hope that the outstanding lawsuits bring some measure of justice to the family of Halyna Hutchins.”

Gloria Allred, who represents Halyna Hutchins’ mother, father, and sister in a civil lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and other “Rust” producers, spoke out about the decision to drop the appeal in a press release on Christmas Eve.

"There was no justice, because a jury couldn't hear the evidence," Allred said at a news conference held in Los Angeles, going on to insist that Baldwin “was responsible, and he is responsible.”

"It's not over until it's over, and it's not over yet," Allred said. "Although the attorney general of New Mexico, Raúl Torrez, is the Grinch who stole this Christmas, we will work to ensure that a future Christmas will be without this Grinch."

Legal analyst John Day, who spoke to ABC affiliate KOAT about the decision felt that the attorney general made the right call to drop the appeal.

"To criticize (the attorney general) for not pursuing it because (Allred) has a civil case, it's a little bit like what they call crocodile tears," Day said. "She still has claims which could be very good and very successful against Baldwin and the production companies in the civil case.”

He continued, "But the fact is, this criminal case has been a train wreck for many, many months; it's been very expensive for the taxpayers of New Mexico, and the attorney general obviously did not want to get stuck in the same mud that enveloped the special prosecutors (in the criminal case)."

In their own statement, Baldwin’s legal team told the ABC affiliate, "Yesterday's decision to dismiss the appeal is the final vindication of what Alec Baldwin and his attorneys have said from the beginning - this was an unspeakable tragedy but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. The rule of law remains intact in New Mexico."

After Alec Baldwin was indicted for a second time, attorney Gloria Allred released a statement about the new charges in January 2024. Allred is not only representing part of the Hutchins family but also "Rust" script supervisor Mamie Mitchell in her own separate lawsuit against "Rust" producers.

“Our clients have always sought the truth about what happened on the day that Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on October 21, 2021. They continue to seek the truth in our civil lawsuit for them and they also would like there to be accountability in the criminal justice system. The grand jury has decided that there is sufficient evidence to indict Alec Baldwin on the charge of involuntary manslaughter," she said in a statement.

"We are looking forward to the criminal trial which will determine if he should be convicted for the untimely death of Halyna, who was the daughter of our clients Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, the sister of Svetlana Zemko, and the co-worker-of-our-client-, Mamie Mitchell," she added.

In addition to that statement, Allred released another separate statement when SAG-AFTRA released a statement in the actor's defense, insisting that it was not an actor's job to check firearms on set. “The notion that an actor is not responsible if that actor holds a gun, points it at someone on a movie set, and discharges the weapon flies in the face of common sense and the law,” Gloria Allred said in a separate statement.

“Safety protocols may be considered at trial, but they are not the law,” she continued. “This indictment was the result of a careful assessment by the grand jury of all the facts and the law. It is important to respect the grand jury’s decision to indict, and to allow the criminal justice system to proceed to trial where the case will be decided on its merits.”