Prosecutor who quit in the Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ case claims she was seeking dismissal

Erlinda Ocampo Johnson who has said that she was convinced of the manslaughter case brought against Alec Baldwin, said that she believed that withholding evidence meant the case was not a good one and should be dismissed.

Special prosecutor quit the case the murder trial for Alac Baldwi in on Friday claimed she did it because she believed that the case should have been removed by the government.

Justice Mary Marlowe Sommer would dismiss the case against Baldwin in the following day and she did so “with prejudice,” meaning that charges aren’t able to be reopened against the actor.

Baldwin, 66, been charged with involuntary manslaughter following the accidental killing of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The victim was who was killed in 2021 on an New Mexico set for the film “Rust” as Baldwin held the revolver that was that was intended to serve as an prop. “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of murder in March on the charge of involuntary manslaughter during the shooting, and sentenced to 18 months of prison.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, who delivered an opening statement in which she accused Baldwin for being reckless admitted that she knew that the prosecutor’s evidence was in danger Friday, when she discovered that some rounds hadn’t been given for defense.

“It was clear that it was something that should have been turned over,” Ocampo Johnson said to NBC News Friday night.

Ocampo Johnson quit on Friday and left court before a hearing could be held to determine if the evidentiary matter meant Baldwin’s case was not rejected, which is what his attorneys had argued.

The special prosecutor who was her co-defendant, Kari Morrissey, said in the courtroom that Ocampo Johnson quit in part as she “didn’t agree with the decision to have a public hearing” However, Ocampo Johnson insisted that she didn’t believe that an open hearing was needed to be conducted at all.

“I believed that the right decision would have been a dismissal,” Ocampo Johnson stated.

If there was a an objection to the suggestion, Ocampo Johnson replied: “I wouldn’t say ‘push-back,’ it was ‘go forward with the case.'”

Baldwin’s attorneys pleaded with that the court dismiss their case following it was discovered the fact that Troy Teske, a former police officer who was also a friend of the stepfather of Gutierrez Reed, was able to deliver Colt .45-caliber rounds of ammunition to Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on the 6th of March (the day of Gutierrez-Reed’s acquittal).

Defense lawyers said the defense attorneys should’ve been warned regarding the round.

Morrissey claimed that the incriminating ammunition was not tied to the case or kept from Baldwin’s attorneys.

“There is no reason to believe that the evidence that we discussed in court today was related to the set of ‘Rust,'” Morrissey declared when that the trial was thrown out. She said she did not agree with the judge’s ruling, but accepted it.

Morrissey did not immediately reply to requests for further information regarding the matter on Friday.

Ocampo Johnson claimed she was convinced of the criminal case brought against Baldwin and was able to provide evidence showing that just the days prior to when Hutchins was killed, a video proved that the gun “was not handled the way it should have been.”

Baldwin ought to have been aware of the guidelines of the industry including never shooting guns at people, and treating them as if fully loaded Ocampo Johnson told.

“I believed in the case,” she stated. “Because I believe it was one woman who was killed. There was a lot of reckless conduct on the stage.”

But she also said that it’s the defense lawyers and not the prosecutors to determine whether evidence can be used to support their defense.

Ocampo Johnson stated that she is not convinced that there was any evidence hidden on purpose.

“I do not believe it was a deliberate act. I don’t believe it,” she said. “I think it was just something that — it wasn’t turned over, and it should have been.”

Following it was decided that the Baldwin case was dismissed and Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles said that “we will be moving for her immediate release.”

Ocampo Johnson was not a part in this prosecution. She was unable to comment on the specific ways in which Baldwin’s trial could impact the work of Gutierrez-Reed’s defense lawyers However, she did doubt whether the disputed ammunition could assist in the reversal of her conviction.

“I don’t think it should impact her case, but it certainly should have been turned over in this case,” Ocampo Johnson said.

Sumiko Moots

and

Gisele Lamarre

They also contributed

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