New 'Rust' special prosecutor will take the place of departing member of team

Apr. 19—The First Judicial District Attorney's Office has agreed to pay Albuquerque attorney Erlinda Johnson$125 per hour — up to $60,000 — to assist in prosecuting an involuntary manslaughter charge against Rust star and producer Alec Baldwin.

The District Attorney's Office released Johnson's contract Friday after declining to answer questions about her hiring and pay Thursday.

Johnson had said in an email Thursday she would be working alongside previously appointed special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis. Morrissey, who did not respond to questions Thursday, clarified Friday that Johnson essentially will replace Lewis on the case.

"Ms. Johnson has joined the team because Mr. Lewis has other professional responsibilities with another client for the next two months and cannot dedicate the appropriate amount of time to the case against Mr. Baldwin," Morrissey wrote in an email.

"The taxpayers will not be paying for three lawyers to prosecute the case as Ms. Johnson will be assuming the majority of Mr. Lewis' responsibilities."

Baldwin faces the fourth-degree felony charge in connection with the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died after being struck by a bullet that came from a revolver Baldwin was holding a walkthrough of a scene during the filming of Rust at Bonanza Creed Ranch south of Santa Fe.

Assistant director David Halls and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed also were charged in connection with Hutchins' death, which authorities say was the result of Gutierrez-Reed bringing live ammunition onto the set and accidentally loading a real bullet — rather than a dummy round — into the revolver Baldwin used in the scene.

Halls pleaded no contest in 2023 to negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months probation for his part in the tragic incident. Halls testified during Gutierrez-Reed's jury trial last month that he'd failed to properly examine the gun prior to the scene.

Prosecutors contend Baldwin shares culpability in the case because he pointed the revolver in the direction of a camera being manned by Hutchins, cocked the gun and pulled the trigger.

Baldwin — who has said he didn't pull the trigger as the gun discharged — has entered a plea of not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial in July.

The jury in Gutierrez-Reed's case deliberated for less than three hours following a two-week trial before convicting her of involuntary manslaughter. State District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Gutierrez-Reed to 18 months in prison Monday, but there is still a loose end dangling in her case.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorney Jason Bowles filed a reply in her case, in which he accused prosecutors of violating discovery rules by failing to disclose the existence of a previous interview with the man whose company supplied guns and ammunition to the set until after the March trial.

"Last week the special prosecutor disclosed to counsel for the first time a prior interview of Seth Kenney with district attorney's office investigators that lasted two and a half hours," Bowles wrote in the April 14 filing.

"The statement isn't dated but it was represented as happening before trial," Bowles wrote.

The state was obligated to turn over the statement in keeping with U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding the sharing of evidence which could be favorable to a defendant, according to Bowles.

"It's inconceivable that the district attorney's office wouldn't have remembered this statement and to disclose it to the new special prosecutor," he wrote, alluding to the fact a different special prosecutor handled the case before Morrissey came on board.

Morrissey disputed Bowles' characterization of what happened.

"The prosecution did not withhold pertinent information," she wrote in an email Friday. "There was an interview with one witness that was not disclosed because I was not aware that the interview existed and it was not in my possession. That witness' other interviews were disclosed to Mr. Bowles and the witness was interviewed by Mr. Bowles. The interview that was discovered after trial contains no new information."

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies asked state officials for extra money in 2022 to prosecute the cases arising out of the Rust shooting, writing in a request to the state Board of Finance she anticipated prosecuting up to four people and would need nearly $635,000 to do so.

The Board of Finance granted the District Attorney's Office $317,000 in response to her request and the Legislature allocated another $317,000 during the 2023 session.

The District Attorney's Office has spent about $339,955 prosecuting the cases as of March, according to records The New Mexican received in response to a request.

About $103,000 of that has gone to Lewis, according to the records, while about $109,000 has been paid to Morrissey.