Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against prosecutors who pursued a criminal charge against him after the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

The Hollywood actor, who was the lead actor and co-producer of the Western film, was pointing a gun at Ms Hutchins when it fired in October 2021.

The cinematographer was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded.

Baldwin, 66, was accused of involuntary manslaughter but his trial was upended in July when a judge threw the case out based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of ammunition evidence from the defence.

He has now filed a lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations against those involved in pursuing the charge.

The lawsuit alleges that prosecutors intentionally concealed evidence that would absolve Baldwin from blame and “sought at every turn to scapegoat” him to “maliciously bring about or advance” the actor’s trial and conviction.

It claims the defendants, which include special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, were “blinded by their desire to convict Baldwin for all the wrong reasons”.

In a statement, Ms Morrissey said: “In October 2023 the prosecution team became aware that Mr Baldwin intended to file a retaliatory civil lawsuit.

“We look forward to our day in court.”

Representatives for Ms Carmack-Altwies have been contacted for comment.

Baldwin’s lawsuit has been filed less than a month after Ms Morrissey withdrew an appeal over the court’s decision to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor.

After the lawsuit was filed, Baldwin’s lawyers Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a joint statement: “Criminal prosecutions are supposed to be about the search for truth and justice, not to pursue personal or political gain or harass the innocent.

“Kari Morrissey and the other defendants violated that basic principle, over and over, and trampled on Alec Baldwin’s rights.

“We bring this action to hold the defendants accountable for their misconduct and to prevent them from doing this to anyone else.”

Read more:
What next for Alec Baldwin?
Rust premieres three years after fatal shooting
Prosecutors say Baldwin has ‘no control’ of his emotions

Baldwin had always denied the charge of involuntary manslaughter, maintaining he did not pull the gun’s trigger and that others on the set in New Mexico were responsible for safety checks on the weapon.

If he had been convicted, he could have faced up to 18 months in prison.

According to the prosecution, the actor had behaved recklessly during a scene rehearsal on the set near Santa Fe, playing “make believe with a real gun” and violating “the cardinal rules of firearm safety”.

Baldwin’s defence team argued this was not true – saying he was “an actor, acting” and “committed no crime”.

Following repeated suggestions from defence lawyer Alex Spiro that evidence had been concealed, in an unusual move, Ms Morrissey called herself to the witness stand during the trial, despite the judge telling her she was not required to do so.

Mr Spiro told the court that she had referred to the actor as a “c*********” and an “arrogant p****” to witnesses. Ms Morrissey said she did not recall this.

PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists to move into ninth on the NHL’s career scoring list as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Thursday night.

The Penguins’ captain tied Hall of Famer Joe Sakic at 1,641 points with an assist on Bryan Rust‘s first-period goal. Crosby then moved past Sakic with an assist on Drew O’Connor‘s sixth goal of the season later in the period as the Penguins raced to a 4-1 advantage.

Crosby’s 12th goal 5:42 into the second put the Penguins up 5-1, providing some welcome wiggle room for a team that has struggled to hold multiple-goal leads this season.

The next name ahead of Crosby on the career scoring list is none other than Penguins icon Mario Lemieux, who had 1,723 points.

“I’m running out of superlatives [about Crosby],” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after the game. “What he’s accomplishing, first of all, his body of work in the league, his legacy that has been built to this point, speaks for itself. He’s the consummate pro. He just represents our sport, the league, the Pittsburgh Penguins in such a great way.

“He just carries himself with so much grace and humility and integrity. And he’s a fierce competitor on the ice.”

Rust also had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, which snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Oilers for the first time since Dec. 20, 2019.

“For us, that was our goal — to be on our toes, be all over them, be on top of them, because they’re very fast, a skilled team,” Rust told reporters after the game. “I think just a result of that was us being able to get some offense.”

Alex Nedeljkovic made 40 stops for the Penguins and Rickard Rakell scored his team-high 21st goal as Pittsburgh won without injured center Evgeni Malkin.

McDavid finished with three assists. Leon Draisaitl scored twice to boost his season total to an NHL-best 31, but the Penguins beat Stuart Skinner four times in the first 14 minutes. Skinner settled down to finish with 21 saves but it wasn’t enough as the Penguins ended Edmonton’s four-game winning streak.

TAKEAWAYS

Oilers: Their attention to detail in the first period was shaky. Though Skinner wasn’t at his best, the Penguins also had little trouble generating chances.

Penguins: Pittsburgh remains a work in progress at midseason but showed it can compete with the league’s best.

UP NEXT

Edmonton finishes a four-game trip at Chicago on Saturday. The Penguins continue a five-game homestand Saturday against Ottawa.

The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Sean Monahan on injured reserve Thursday because of an upper body injury sustained in the 4-3 shootout win at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Adam Fantilli is expected to move up to center the top line when the Blue Jackets host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

“Guys have watched how [Monahan] conducts himself, and hopefully they try to do the exact same thing,” coach Dean Evason said Thursday. “Our bench is calm in large part because of him up front and [defenseman Zach Werenski] on the back end. They’re both very calming influence players, but we have other guys that do that as well.

“But if the guys that are playing in tonight’s hockey game have learned anything from ‘Monny,’ it’s that he’s even-keeled. He doesn’t get too high, too low, all those clichés. He just goes about his business. We expect our team to do that here tonight.”

In a corresponding move, the Blue Jackets added rookie forward Owen Sillinger on an emergency recall from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

Monahan, 30, has 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists), 14 penalty minutes and a plus-17 rating in 41 games this season. He ranks second on the team in plus/minus rating and third in goals, assists and points.

He has 579 career points (258 goals, 321 assists) in 805 games with the Calgary Flames (2013-22), Montreal Canadiens (2022-24), Winnipeg Jets (2024) and Blue Jackets, who signed him as a free agent in July. The Flames selected him sixth overall in the 2013 NHL draft.

Sillinger, 27, is on a one-year, two-way NHL/AHL contract with the Blue Jackets. He has eight goals and 17 assists with 18 penalty minutes in 34 games with Cleveland this season.